Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, for the invitation to be here to present on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
My name is Ron Bonnett. I'm a beef producer from northern Ontario, and I'm president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture represents, through its member organizations, more than 200,000 farm families across Canada, and we promote the interests of Canadian agriculture and agrifood producers to ensure the continued development of a viable and vibrant agriculture and agrifood industry in Canada.
The CFA supports the goals of reducing barriers to interprovincial trade and recognizes the need to eliminate unwarranted barriers to interprovincial movement of goods, investment, and labour to reconcile standards. Harmonizing standards across Canada would enhance the ability of Canadian farmers to serve the needs of the domestic food market as well as the export markets that so many farmers depend on.
We also believe that these goals must be pursued in a manner that recognizes the diverse social, cultural, and economic characteristics of the provinces, and respects the diverse marketing requirements of the various sectors of Canadian agricultural production. We have heard concerns raised by farmers across Canada about the number of differing standards and regulations across the country that hinder or add unnecessary costs to those who wish to market their products outside of the province. This is especially true in cases where farms are located in areas that abut other provinces. These barriers include differing transportation regulations, which can include everything from truck weights, dimensions, and tire sizes, and things like differences in standards for animal housing, new management regulations, and the variance in disease-prevention regulations between provinces.
In the case of animal production, differences in provincial meat inspection, which have been outlined by my colleague here, have a significant impact on livestock and poultry farmers, as many retailers won't purchase products from provincially inspected plants. This includes products produced in the province and products that go across provincial lines. In addition, we've heard from food processors about a number of regulations that are different across different provinces.
Another area that needs to be addressed is the standardization of farm data. Provincial regulations vary considerably, and having a robust baseline of information across the country is necessary to compare different approaches used by provinces, to gauge their impact, and to develop appropriate policy responses. One example may be the information on investments of corporate entities, foreign ownership, and other land data that could benefit an understanding of what is happening in the industry.
As mentioned, CFA supports the goal of reducing or eliminating unnecessary burdens on interprovincial trade in agriculture; however, we also believe there should be legitimate exceptions that would be recognized. This could include measures to protect animal and plant life, protection of the environment, and consumer protection.
The one other area of concern that must be addressed is having measures in place to support the supply management system for dairy and poultry producers in Canada. Under the supply management system production is managed at the provincial level and interprovincially, and rules are needed to make sure that this is in place. The agricultural chapter within the Agreement on Internal Trade has recognized that nothing in the agreement shall be construed to prevent the provinces from adopting or maintaining measures relating to supply management marketing systems regulated by federal and provincial governments and provincially regulated marketing boards that are not technical measures. The sector has asked that the statement be further clarified, given the vagueness of the term “not technical measures”, so that measures supporting supply management are exempt from the dispute settlement process contained in the agriculture agreement on trade.
While federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for trade approved an interpretive note addressing these issues, we have not seen the written text of that, and it has not been made public. We are therefore seeking the assistance of this committee to make sure that the interpretive note is available to those sectors that would be impacted prior to its being ratified.
In 2006 the Senate banking, trade, and commerce committee did do an examination of interprovincial trade; however, no report was issued. But from the information that we've been able to gather, they had a hard time finding real details on what is impacting trade, and they had a hard time as well quantifying what the impact would be.
In summary, we think the goal of reducing unnecessary barriers to interprovincial trade would enhance the ability of Canadian farmers to serve the needs of the domestic food market, as well as position them better for export opportunities. We recommend that the committee do a thorough assessment of the mechanisms and regulations in place that may hinder interprovincial trade in agriculture while keeping in mind that there may be some legitimate exceptions to this rule.
Secondly, we would recommend that the committee assist us in making the interpretative note to the AIT public so that Canadian supply-managed sectors can be assured that the measures supporting these sectors are exempt from the dispute resolution process.
Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.