I see I'm early.
Yesterday I spoke here on the CETA agreement and you understand the impact it has on dairy. I want to reiterate that, to put it on the record that the CETA agreement has presently increased CETA's access of cheese to close to 16,000 tonnes extra now and that is effectively doubling the current EU access.
As a local dairy farmer and on behalf of the people I represent, we're proud Canadians and we're proud of the industry that we've built. We stand second to no one in the industry when it comes to quality, the types of products we produce, and I think as Canadians we can be proud of that. To have another threat with the TPP and I'm not sure if it's going to be a threat, but when it comes to the supply management system we'd like to keep it intact in its present form. CETA has taken something from us already and we don't want the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement to take any more.
To speak personally here, I'm not against trade. I think trade has to be fair and equitable. I think what the government is doing is wise and it's smart to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but I think what we've given up already in dairy is enough. I think we have to recognize that. This next round of negotiations is going to be very difficult because the Oceanic countries are going to be knocking on the door wanting to get into our market.
On that note, I want to emphasize the three pillars of supply management. One of those is the production management, the discipline we have in this country—we take care of the surplus. There's no government support. There is no cash outlay by the federal government, unlike the European Union where there are close to 40% subsidies. The American system...we knew with the farm bill that if it didn't pass, the price of milk was probably going to double to the consumer. There is obviously some sort of subsidy program that they have down there.
The other thing is the predictable imports. I mentioned yesterday when I had that glass of milk here and in that glass of milk a processor will fractionate those products down, whether it be here or Europe or in New Zealand or Australia and then they'll try to circumvent the rules of the imports to come into this country. The foundation of supply management is the predictability. As dairy farmers we know what a milking stool is and I think most of the people in this room know what a milking stool is. Years ago we had a lobby day and we would go out and give each and every MP a milking stool, but it was a card holder. The thing about that milking stool is it tips over if the third leg or any of the legs are cut off.
That's the analogy I want to use when it comes to the three pillars. The production management, the predictability of the imports, and the pricing mechanism that we establish under government regulation in this country give us a fair and stable price and no cost to any of the consumers through subsidy dollars to the federal government.
As the TPP moves forward, we in this industry would like to see no further impact on dairy. We would like to see, obviously, more access to other countries, but as I pointed out yesterday, we are in a trade deficit obviously. But if it means no access to gain our market and control of our market, it would probably be better to have a very stable market, because the stable market we have within Canada is good right now.
I want to stress the three points again.
We want to keep our industry stable and strong. It doesn't cost the Canadian taxpayers any money. It doesn't cost the federal government any money. The farmers in this country, probably for the last 15 to 20 years, have never derived any subsidy dollars from the federal government. We derive our funding, our costs, our income through the marketplace. We're proud of that fact. There are not too many farmers in the world who can say that. We'd like to have that continue, and we want to grow our domestic market.
I pointed out yesterday, with the CETA agreement, that these people have access, the additional 16,000 tonnes, to get into a market that we've established, or we've tried to establish through advertising programs, through incentive programs, new development programs. There are programs that we have within the dairy industry whereby if somebody wants to start in the industry in the processing sector we give them a special quota to allow them to develop their new products, to get it online for a period of two or three years before. We're helping people in this sector develop new markets, develop new products, and move forward.
I want to close by saying that I really appreciate the fact that you allowed me to speak here. I really appreciate the fact that I'm speaking on behalf of our industry. This goes on record that we believe that our industry is a very strong and viable industry, it is a very prosperous industry, has no direct costs from the federal government. I think I can't stress that enough.
The other thing is that supply management isn't what it was 25 years ago. We are constantly evolving. We are evolving maybe slower than some people wish, but as I speak right now, in Ottawa right now, there are discussions taking place on new pricing mechanisms, on new ways of allocating quota. These things are happening all the time. Our industry is not standing still. It's maybe not moving forward fast enough for people, but it is not standing still. It is not an archaic system. Some of the MPs and the Minister of Agriculture clearly say that we have to modernize supply management. We are doing that. We've consistently done that, maybe not as fast as people want, but I want to leave you with the note that we are moving forward. If the words “modernization of supply management” is the term that people are comfortable with, we are doing that today.
Thank you very much.