International Trade committee  Mr. Julian, at the end of the Uruguay Round, Canada essentially negotiated through the tariffication process in which, for the most part, supply-managed products were tariffied and TRQs were established. That's also the case for a number of beef and grain products as well. That r

International Trade committee  Officially, we began our talks a little over a year ago with representatives of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. They, in turn, spoke to the people at the Department of Finance. We were told that the technical aspect of the implementation had been studied, but that the minister

International Trade committee  The United States and Europe have already implemented these measures.

International Trade committee  What we must not forget is that Canada has that right.

International Trade committee  Very briefly, if I may add to that, the WTO is not only about obligations; it is also about rights, and we should not shy away from using our rights.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Ron. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, Dairy Farmers of Canada is in fact pleased to appear before this committee to present our views with respect to the CETA deal. As you may be aware, Dairy Farmers of Canada is the national lobby, policy, and promotion organ

International Trade committee  That's exactly how we are perceiving it. We are one of the very few losers in this agreement.

International Trade committee  That is exactly what we've tried to point out in this presentation. We are losing. We are losing future growth in which we have heavily invested over the past 15, 20, 30 years. That growth did not occur just like that; it's the result of the investment that farmers have put into

International Trade committee  This is what we are losing.

International Trade committee  No. That's an interesting point. When the negotiations started, it was done on the basis that there would be no exceptions a priori. However, one important element that was not added to the negotiating agenda was domestic support to the common agricultural policy that's in use in

International Trade committee  That is correct.

International Trade committee  I'll defer on that one to Mr. Versteeg.

International Trade committee  I don't have the exact numbers.

International Trade committee  The point we are trying to make is that the impact will be felt by both primary producers and cheese producers. Imported cheeses will directly compete with the cheeses produced by Canadian cheese makers. We expect fine cheeses to be competing directly with Canada’s fine products,

International Trade committee  We are responsible for generic promotion in Canada, meaning not only the promotion of milk, but also the promotion of dairy products, such as cheese, yogurt and butter. So the investments made by producers also benefit Canadian cheese makers.