GHY Tradelines

(Julian Beltrame – CP)

The Canada-European Union free trade talks are nearing an end with agriculture issues the last major stumbling block to an agreement both sides say will boost economic growth, the EU ambassador Matthias Brinkmann said Thursday.

In a free-wheeling discussion with Canadian reporters, Brinkmann suggested that most other issues in the four-year talks have been resolved or are close to being resolved, and that two specific sticking points — how much Canadian beef to Europe and how much European cheese to Canada — is keeping the sides from a deal.

“I think we have the landing zones identified for all sectors … but like in most negotiations it’s agriculture which is the most difficult one,” he said. Read more here.
 

(Grain News)

Trade tribunal tosses case for lack of jurisdiction

Canada’s watchdog on cross-border trade says it can’t rule on a company importing pizza topping kits made with cheaper U.S. mozzarella, if the request for a ruling doesn’t come from another importer.

Canada’s 10 provincial dairy marketing boards, under the not-for-profit name BalanceCo, had sought a ruling from the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) during a appeal hearing last month in Ottawa, against imports of pre-packaged pizza toppings combining shredded mozzarella and sliced pepperoni from the U.S.

The packs were recently developed for import into Canada from the U.S. by J. Cheese Inc., an Ontario distributor, for a “particular customer” – namely the Toronto-based Pizza Pizza chain, which operates almost 700 Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73 outlets across Canada. Read more here.
 

(Chris Plecash – Hill Times)

Canadian farmers may have to wait at least two years before they begin to see any benefits – or challenges – from a trade deal with the European Union, says former federal international trade negotiator Peter Clark.

The European Union’s own protective policies on agricultural imports and the various agriculture interests of the 27-member bloc are only a few of the persistent obstacles to the completion of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), said Mr. Clark, a former international trade negotiator now with Ottawa-based trade consulting firm Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates.

“It could take two years to approve this. They have to ratify it, some [members] will try to come back and get changes, then the European Parliament has to approve it,” Mr. Clark told The Hill Times. “If they get it done by mid-summer, it would take another two years.” Read more here.
 

(Tasha Kheiriddin – iPolitics)

Banking, beef, cheese and cars. What do these things have in common? They’re reportedly all on the table in the negotiation of CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU.

CETA talks have missed numerous deadlines since their inception in 2009, due in part to the aforementioned sticking points: protectionist regimes for dairy farmers in Canada and beef producers in France, as well as regulations that keep foreign banks out of Canada while allowing foreign content in Canadian-made vehicles.

So this week, when the prime minister of France, Jean-Marc Ayrault, graced the podium of Toronto’s storied Empire Club, all ears were on opportunities to increase trade between his country and ours. The stop was part of a four-day official visit to Canada, during which Ayrault met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper… Read more here.
 

(Don Curren – WSJ)

It’s long been a, well, sacred cow for Canadian policymakers. But amid a raft of trade talks—including negotiations now underway between Ottawa and Asian nations and, separately, the European Union—Canada’s dairy supply-management system is under scrutiny.

C.D. Howe Institute, a pro-markets think tank, said it’s time the system be reformed.

Provincial governments established the regime in the 1960s to balance the interests of small dairy producers and the handful of processors then in operation, and to smooth out the effects of volatility in milk prices. The provincial boards now operate under the umbrella of the federal Canadian Dairy Commission. Read more here.
 

(CBSA)

The new Notice to Importers (No. 825) setting out the policies and practices pertaining to supplemental imports of turkey and turkey products is now available here.
 

(Barry Wilson – Wilson Producer)

New director general/DFC president says countries are choosing regional and bilateral deals

As a longtime British Columbia dairy farmer, Wally Smith knows a thing or two about downer cows.

As a longtime executive player in Dairy Farmers of Canada, the DFC president also knows a thing or two about stalled World Trade Organization negotiations.

Oddly, he finds similarity between the two.

“I compare the WTO talks to a downer cow,” Smith said in a speech and later interview during the DFC’s recent annual meeting in Ottawa.

“You feed it, you look after it, you try to rehabilitate it and it is a drag on all your energy and resources.” Read more here.
 

(Thomas Walkom – Toronto Star)

Thanks to Barack Obama, Canada has even less room to bargain a favorable free trade deal with Europe.

For Canada, the most important element of Barack Obama’s Tuesday night State of the Union address was buried deep inside the U.S. president’s hour-long speech.

It was just one line and few in the audience paid it much heed. But Obama’s announcement that Washington is starting free trade talks with the European Union has put new pressure on Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Harper, it will be remembered, has been negotiating with the Europeans since 2009 for a Canada-EU free trade pact.

The prime minister is an ardent free-trader and the EU deal was supposed to be the crowning jewel in an array of trade treaties with countries ranging from Japan to Vietnam to Colombia.

But negotiations with the EU have gone on long past the original 2011 deadline. Press leaks from the secret talks indicate that the two sides are hung up on agriculture in particular. Read more here.
 

(Globe & Mail)

The spectre of the United States and Europe joining forces in a sweeping free-trade union ratchets up pressure on Canada to conclude its own transatlantic deal in the next couple of months.

After nearly three years of negotiations, Canada and the European Union are close to reaching a final agreement. But a handful of politically tricky issues remain unresolved, including access for Canadian beef and cars in Europe, how much duty-free European cheese gets into Canada, plus pharmaceutical patents and government contracts.

Both sides have good reasons to want a deal soon. Europe wants to lay the groundwork for its looming negotiations with the United States, expected to start in June. Europe is also poised to open trade talks with Japan in April.

“It puts the squeeze on us to get going and finish our deal with the EU,” agreed John Weekes, a former top Canadian trade negotiator and now an adviser with law firm Bennett Jones in Ottawa. Read more here.

Related: Canada Rebuffs EU Request for Exemption on Takeover Reviews
 

(The Canadian Press)

‘I don’t think we should give up’ certain principles, Parti Québécois premier says in London

Quebec could throw a monkey wrench into any free-trade deal between Canada and the European Union if it’s not satisfied with the treaty’s contents, Premier Pauline Marois warned Monday.

The Parti Quebecois leader told a news conference the province could enact laws or regulations to make it difficult to implement a Canada-EU treaty if it believes there has been an encroachment on provincial jurisdiction.

“At one point, when it comes to certain principles with which we are unable to live or agreements that have an impact on our market that is unacceptable, well, I don’t think we should give up,” Marois said.

Such deals are just another reason why Quebec needs to be sovereign, the premier added. Read more here.
 

(Joe Brock – Reuters)

Free trade talks between Canada and the European Union are progressing but there is no end date for a deal that was supposed to have been finished by the end of 2012, Canada’s Trade Minister Ed Fast said on Monday.

Canada, keen to diversify its exports away from the United States, says a deal with the European Union would increase two-way trade by 20%. The talks started in 2009.

Officials and industry sources say several sensitive matters remain to be settled, including access for agricultural goods, opening up procurement markets and the extension of pharmaceutical patents. Read more here.
 

(Andrew Coyne — Postmedia News)

The latest leak from the Canada-European Union free trade talks — for what would a closed-door, confidential negotiation be without biweekly leaks — has caused more than the usual consternation among the Usually Consternated.

According to the documents, prepared for the EU Trade Commission and leaked to La Presse, the EU is pushing for access to government procurement, in areas where its firms are now excluded from bidding, such as energy and public transit.

The Canadian Press reports the Europeans are also demanding that investors whose assets are expropriated should be compensated, even where the expropriation is for health or environmental purposes. They want our transportation and telecommunications industry opened further to foreign competition, and a relaxation of the “net benefit” test on foreign takeovers as it applies to its investors. And — my God, my God — they also want us to liberalize our supply management policies. Read more here.

Related: Canada-EU Trade: Risk-al Imbalance (Macleans)
 

The following notices invite applicants to submit an application for a share of various quotas for the period of January 1st to December 31st, 2013,

Notice to Importers No. 819 – Ice Cream and Ice Cream Novelties for 2013

Notice to Importers No. 820 – Yogurt for 2013

Notice to Importers No. 821 – Products of Natural Milk Constituents for 2013

The deadline to submit your 2013 applications is December 14, 2012.
 

(Bridges Weekly)

Negotiations for a Canada-EU trade deal are at a key stage, officials say, with top trade officials from both sides expected to meet in the coming days in an effort to resolve the remaining political hurdles. With just weeks left until the end of the year, however, whether or not the two sides will be able to meet their goal of finishing the talks by end-December remains still unclear.

Over three years after their launch, officials say that the talks for the Canada- EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) have made significant progress. However, “there is a small basket of issues left and as in any negotiations, they are the toughest ones to resolve,” Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast told Reuters earlier this month. Fast added that he is “certainly committed to negotiating around or through those.”

The predicted date for a conclusion to the negotiations has changed repeatedly over the talks’ three-year run. Canadian and EU officials had said earlier this year that the discussions should be completed by the end of summer 2012. A prior deadline to finish the talks by 2011 also went unmet. Read more here.
 

(DFAIT)

The 2013 Beef and Veal Notice to Importers No. 830 inviting applicants to submit an application for a share of the beef and veal tariff rate quota for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2013, is now available on the EICB website.

The deadline to submit your 2013 application is December 1, 2012.
 

(DFAIT)

The 2013 Turkey and Turkey Products Notice to Importers No. 824 inviting applicants to submit an application for a share of the turkey tariff rate quota for the period January 1 to December 31, 2013, is now available on the web here.

The deadline to submit your 2013 application is December 1, 2012. Please take note of the changes to the commodity codes contained in the list of EIPA commodity codes for turkey and turkey products in Appendix 7.
 

(DFAIT)

The 2013 Eggs and Egg Products Notice to Importers No. 828 inviting applicants to submit an application for a share of the egg tariff rate quota for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2013, is now available on the web here.

The deadline to submit your 2013 application is December 5, 2012. Please take note of the changes to the commodity codes contained in the list of EIPA commodity codes for eggs and egg products in Appendix 1.

Please note that the format of the Notice has been changed in order to meet the Government’s commitment to increased clarity and transparency in respect of its policies and regulations. Also, for ecological and economic reasons, we have decided not to send hard copies of the Notice to all companies on our mailing list.  Rather, we recommend that companies access the Notice to Importers on our website.  Should you desire a hard copy, our website includes PDF links that can be easily printed.  If you would like to receive a hard copy by mail, please send us your contact information including your complete mailing address and contact name and we will be happy to send you a copy by post.

Trade Controls Policy Division
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2

Phone: (613) 944-1265
Toll Free: 1-877-808-8838
Fax: (613) 992-9397
eics.scei@international.gc.ca
 

(CBSA)

The 2013 Chicken and Chicken Products Notice to Importers No. 815 inviting applicants to submit an application for a share of the chicken tariff rate quota for the period January 1 to December 31, 2013, is now available on the web here.

The deadline to submit your 2013 application is November 30, 2012.
 

(mySteinbach.ca)

Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) is encouraged by the announcement that governments continue to work on negotiations of a Canada‐European Union (EU) comprehensive trade agreement.

MBP appreciates the efforts of the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba on the progress that has been made to date. MBP encourages the key ministers, especially Honourable Ed Fast, International Trade Minister; and Honourable Peter Bjornson, Manitoba Minister of Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade; to continue their efforts to move this file to completion.

MBP supports free trade with the EU and looks forward to an agreement, if an agreement is successful in bringing significant benefits to the beef sector in Manitoba and Canada.

“Reaching an agreement with the EU that will eliminate the steep beef tariff and any quotas will help every link in the beef production chain in Manitoba,” said Ray Armbruster, MBP president. “We look forward to an agreement that can address several technical issues that have been barriers to trade.” Read more here.
 

(The Canadian Press)

The new Quebec government says its support for a Canada-Europe free trade agreement is not yet certain and is warning that it should not be treated as a fait accompli.

The Parti Quebecois government said Wednesday that there are grey areas in the negotiation that need to be clarified before the province signs on.

The new minister responsible for the file, Jean-Francois Lisee, said in an interview that he’s “moderately optimistic” that the province will eventually support the deal — but he has some concern about going too far in liberalizing certain industries. Read more here.