Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As I was saying, Quebec's dairy sector contributes $6.2 billion to the gross domestic product, or GDP. The dairy sector contributes significantly to the employment and the socioeconomic fabric of Quebec regions and communities. The dairy sector is a significant source of jobs across all professions. Among them are veterinarians, agronomists, input suppliers, farm machinery dealers and mechanics. There are other sectors such as the transportation sector. As a result, concessions made in the dairy sector affect many industries. Thanks to all those investments made on farms, more than $500 million returns to Quebec's economy annually.
Canada's dairy producers have been hit hard by the concessions made in the last three agreements. Any additional concessions would threaten the future of family farms, of Quebec's and Canada's dairy producers, of rural communities and of hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on that sector.
As you know, we are talking about market concessions to the tune of 8.4% granted through the last three agreements—the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, the Canada-United-States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. Added to that are concessions made in various agreements related to the World Trade Organization, or WTO. In 2024, 18% of Canadian dairy production will be covered by other countries.
There is no doubt that, for us, that is a significant market loss. Few sectors or business owners can prosper in a business environment when a growing portion of their market is given to other countries. Those losses stemming from market concessions represent $450 million every year, of which $165 million for Quebec.
You will remember that, for CETA, which we are discussing today, the concession is 17,700 tonnes of cheese—16,000 tonnes of fine cheese and 1,700 tonnes of industrial cheese. For us, that is a heavily affected sector, as there are only two tariff rate quotas. As mentioned earlier, Quebec produces 65% of fine cheeses. So we are genuinely impacted by this agreement.
Dairy producers support the signing of a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom, on the condition that Canada not give additional access to its dairy sector, as dairy producers have paid the price of Canada's participation in the last three agreements.
So we are pleased about the continuity agreement announced last Saturday. The government has granted no additional access to the United Kingdom, in keeping with the commitment made by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Ms. Bibeau.
So I thank the government for keeping its promise. That clearly shows that it is possible to conclude trade agreements without sacrificing supply management. However, we are very aware that this is just a continuity agreement that will lead to a renegotiation of a more long-term agreement. Our position is clear. The provisions that concern us in the continuity agreement must be reproduced in their entirety in a potential long-term agreement.
No additional access to the Canadian dairy market must be given for cheese or for any other dairy products. In the continuity agreement, the United Kingdom took already included tariff rate quotas—in other words, those reserved for the European Union in the negotiations with the WTO.
Let's keep in mind that, under CETA, import access is equivalent to 1.4% of our domestic dairy production. The United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union and, if it wants to have access to the Canadian dairy sector, it must negotiate with the European Union, and not with Canada.
All the party leaders with a seat in the House of Commons have unanimously confirmed their opposition to any new concessions being made in the dairy sector through the trade negotiations. The Prime Minister himself committed to a potential agreement with the United Kingdom not containing any more concessions than those we already granted in CETA.
Every time the Canadian government concedes access to markets, more Canadian dairy products are replaced by foreign products on our store shelves. We have to put an end to that erosion if we want Canada's dairy industry to remain strong and dynamic.
Globalization is being heavily questioned these days, especially in the context of the pandemic. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of safeguarding local production in order to protect their food security, but also the environment. Breaches in supply management lead us in the opposite direction of food security protection.
Concessions conditional on indemnities are not a model for trade negotiations. The government has committed to stop granting concessions on dairy products in future trade agreements. That must be the norm going forward.
I also want to take this opportunity to remind you that we are still waiting for compensations. For over a year, Prime Minister Trudeau, Deputy Prime Minister, Ms. Freeland, and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Ms. Bibeau, have been saying that producers will be compensated for the losses arising from those concessions.
The first installment was paid in 2019. However, no details have been provided since on the implementation of commitments related to those three agreements. I am using this opportunity to applaud a motion that was passed yesterday by all political parties, so that compensations for the last three agreements would be announced as quickly as possible to end the uncertainty in the countryside. It is clear to us that we shouldn't have to annually beg for promises that have already been announced.
The government will provide a financial update next week. Our producers would find it very hard to understand if the government did not make an announcement on the compensations at that time.
As you briefly mentioned, supply management is a model based on the Canadian demand, and producers adjust their productions. There have been concessions, adjustments and compensations, but I repeat that this is not a sustainable model for Canadian dairy production. It is clear to us that we must be vigilant in the negotiation of future agreements.
Thank you for your attention. I would be happy to answer your questions.