Madam Chair and honourable members, thank you for the invitation to appear before the Standing Committee on International Trade on its review of Bill C-282.
The bill proposes to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, such that the Government of Canada cannot make any commitment in an international trade treaty that would have the effect of increasing tariff rate quota volumes or reducing over-quota tariff rates for dairy products, poultry or eggs.
The intent of the bill is consistent with the long-standing Government of Canada policy to defend the integrity of Canada’s supply management system. In practice, this policy has allowed Canada to successfully conclude 15 ambitious free trade agreements covering 51 countries while preserving Canada’s supply management system, including its three pillars of production control, pricing mechanisms and import controls.
New market access for supply-managed products has been provided only at the WTO and in three free trade agreements, which are the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA; the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP; and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA.
The decision to provide increased market access for supply-managed goods in the context of these negotiations was not taken lightly. Such commitments were accepted only where it was deemed necessary to conclude free trade agreements that were in Canada’s overall economic interests. For instance, these agreements allowed Canada to maintain its preferential access to the United States market and to secure significant new access to the EU, Japan and other important foreign markets. It is important to highlight that while new access for supply-managed products was provided through these agreements, the integrity of the supply management system itself, including its three pillars, was fully maintained.
In recent years, the government has made clear its commitment to make no further market access concessions for supply-managed products in future trade negotiations. In line with this publicly stated commitment, Canada’s most recently concluded trade agreement, the Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement, did not provide new market access for cheese or any other supply-managed product, even though this was an important issue for the United Kingdom in the negotiations.
In conclusion, Bill C-282 proposes to make the government’s commitment to make no further market access commitments for supply-managed products into a legal requirement by amending the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act. This would strengthen the policy of defending the integrity of Canada’s supply management system by enshrining it into law.
Along with my colleagues here today, I welcome the committee's questions. Thank you.