Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're pleased to have been invited to appear before the trade committee today.
I have been on the board of the Dairy Farmers of Canada for the past 10 to 11 years. I served on the executive for seven years as vice-president, and I was recently elected president in July. I farm in British Columbia, so I'm actually an owner-operator-producer--a really genuine, live dairy farmer.
You may not know this, but DFC is the national lobby, policy, and promotion organization representing farmers in Canada. We represent approximately 13,000 farmers. We are run by producers for producers. We fund all operations, including promotional activities.
While Canadian dairy farmers concentrate our efforts on the domestic market, essentially selling 100% of our production to satisfy the Canadian market, we recognize that international trade talks are an important aspect when it comes to maintaining both the integrity of the Canadian supply management system in the future as well as opportunities for the export sectors.
Trade talks, whether at the World Trade Organization or at bilateral talks such as CETA, have the potential of affecting our import control measures and the possibility of compromising the integrity of our system. We are supportive of the government's position on trade, and we do not dispute the importance of trade. We believe that from a trade perspective it's important for the country to gain extra economic activity, but at the same time we have to remember that our supply-managed system creates 20% of all cash receipts for the agricultural economy in Canada.
We are sustainable. We are proud that we create rural activity, and we see ourselves as job sustainers. Earlier this year, EcoRessources released a study of economics by the Canadian industry on the Canadian economy. We have provided highlights in our submission, but I'd just like to say it adds $15.2 billion to the gross domestic product and $3 billion in tax revenues--$1.8 billion federally, $0.09 billion provincially, and $0.03 billion municipally. We also sustain a total of 215,000 jobs. We employ directly in full-time equivalents approximately 51,000 jobs in dairy production itself on the farm.
In the dairy sector itself we produce 73,500 full-time equivalent jobs. Compare that to the aeronautics sector in Canada, with 78,000 jobs, or GM, with 9,000 jobs. This is all data taken from an EcoRessources study that was just completed a little while ago.
Given the importance of Canada's domestic market, we need to make sure it continues to be a prosperous marketplace for Canadian producers.
On trade, I have said we strongly support the Canadian government's balanced position. It was redefined following the adoption of a November House of Commons motion on supply management vis-à-vis the WTO, unanimously supported by all parties. It states that at the end of the current round of negotiations, Canada will obtain results that ensure that the supply management sectors are subject to no reduction in over-quota tariffs and no increase in market access.
We have thanked the Canadian government for their firm and consistent support, articulated by the Minister of Trade, the Minister of Agriculture, and even Mr. Keddy, in support of supply management in the CETA round of negotiations. We encourage the government to support and be consistent, as they have been the last little while.
The EU will continue to press hard for more access, especially in the butter and cheese market. I have to remind the committee that we already import approximately 10 times more cheese into the Canadian market, which is 15 times smaller than the European market, than we actually export to Europe. That is an important fact.
Another concern, Mr. Chair, that I'd like to raise very briefly is the one around geographical indications. The potential for a negative impact on cheese production in Canada is very real. Both processors and producers recognize the fact that if we are unable to continue to manufacture and process some of the cheeses that are currently produced in Canada—like parmesan and feta—we are going to run into difficulty, and we'll have economic pain as a result of our lack of ability to continue to produce these cheeses.
Thank you again for allowing us to appear today.