a) The long term debts or liabilities owed to the Canadian Wheat Board, CWB, by individual countries is commercially sensitive information and public disclosure would be considered a breach of customer confidentiality. However, the volume of CWB's credit sales by country is regularly disclosed in the CWB's annual report.
b) The total value of outstanding debt owed to the CWB from sales made under credit arrangements is approximately $6.7 billion. The interest accumulated for the period between August 1, 1994 and July 31, 1995 was approximately $444.5 million, which is included in the total value of the outstanding debt and hence in the government guarantee. Non-payment of principle or interest, if it occurs, does not represent a cost to farmers.
c) The Paris Club is the institution through which major creditor governments reschedule or refinance credits they have extended to public or private sector borrowers in developing countries and which enjoy the sovereign guarantee of the borrowing country.
During the last three years, three countries have received some limited debt reduction through Canada's participation in the Paris Club process. The Government of Canada has agreed to forgive a portion of the debt of these countries as follows (in millions of Canadian dollars):
Zambia and Haiti do not appear in the attached table, Canadian Grain Exports Under Credit Agreements, because the credit sales made to these countries occurred before 1985/86. The debt forgiven for Zambia and Haiti relates to wheat sales made as follows:
Year Wheat Exports Under Credit Agreement
Haiti 1984/85 25,000 tonnes Zambia 1972/73 16,000 tonnes 1973/74 45,000 tonnes
Canadian Grain Exports under Credit Agreements 1985-86 to 1994-95 (thousand tonnes)
Question No. 60-