Agriculture committee  Well, in order to have access on a preferential basis, you will have to have what we call a “rule of origin” for the product: where does the product come from? Does it truly come from Canada? In that context the traceability issue becomes relevant. Our traditional position in tr

Agriculture committee  Well, all questions on sanitary and phytosanitary issues are very important to these negotiations. We have a separate negotiating table pertaining to these topics. Our objective is to reiterate our commitment to the WTO SPS agreement, which is anchored in science, and to devise a

Agriculture committee  At this point the only thing I can say is that the defence of supply management has always meant that we need to ensure that the border protection measures currently in place are maintained, so that we can decide domestically the volume of production necessary to meet domestic de

Agriculture committee  The European farm sector has some differences from Canada, but there is also some resemblance, in the sense that you have different models: you have smaller farms that are more directed to supplying local markets, but you have also very large operations that are designed to opera

Agriculture committee  The subsidy level in Europe varies product by product. In the beef and hog sectors, their level of subsidy is far beyond ours here in Canada. But despite these heavy subsidies in Europe, our producers believe that if we have preferential access to the European market, we will be

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. It's fundamental for the agriculture sector that we have to rely on a science-based approach too.

Agriculture committee  As I mentioned earlier, the feedback we've been getting from the sector is generally very positive. The sector is very well engaged. They are doing their own analysis of trying to estimate the potential gains for their sector. So I think generally speaking it's certainly a very p

Agriculture committee  Well, everybody is fully engaged. Of course, representatives of the supply-managed sector want to make sure that the government will stick to our position of defence of the supply-managed sector. But all the sectors are actively engaged and have provided some input to the departm

Agriculture committee  The issue of generic discipline on monopolies and state enterprises is one topic that is being addressed in the negotiations, but it's more in terms of how we ensure that the use of monopolies or state enterprises does not lead to detrimental trade effects. How can we ensure that

Agriculture committee  Well, in terms of access to the Canadian market, not really. It has never been raised in that context. There are some importers in Europe that have expressed an interest in being able to deal directly with other suppliers in Canada, but apart from that I think it's more, as I sai

Agriculture committee  Just briefly, in the WTO context it's quite clear that the vast majority of developing countries are seeking increased access to the Canadian, the U.S, the EU, and Japan markets. That's where they can sustain their growth, sell good products at high price, and therefore expand th

Agriculture committee  The question of subsidies is very difficult to tackle in a bilateral context. It is more suited to a multilateral framework, because the European Union is not going to embark on reforms of their regime vis-à-vis Canada. They have to do it vis-à-vis the entire world. That's why th

Agriculture committee  Apart from seeking some commitment on export subsidies, the rest of the subsidy issue is not really relevant in a bilateral context.

Agriculture committee  Well, as I said before, the European Union is a very large market for pork products. They consume around 20 million tonnes per year. It is a closed market, though. Their import penetration level is very small. There are some countries, mainly in Latin America, that have some acce

Agriculture committee  I think your question is very well put. Clearly for Agriculture Canada, Minister Ritz has devoted tremendous effort over the past couple of years to foster the notion of a science-based approach to trade rule so we can ensure that when we devise trade rules in an agreement, the