Canada: Barley farmers to be caught in EU/U.S. crossfire at WTO

The rights and livelihood of western Canadian farmers including the barley producers are being threatened in the trade battle between the European Union and the United States, as the two superpowers push for a new agreement at the World Trade Organization (WTO) according to the announcement of Canadian Wheat Board from November 1 .

As part of a new offer released last Friday, the EU has insisted on elimination of the CWB's single-desk marketing system, set up to empower western Canadian farmers to compete against large multinational grain companies and leverage premiums from the international marketplace.

"Our single-desk system is not trade distorting, so it has no place on the table at the WTO," said CWB trade committee chair Larry Hill, a farmer from Swift Current. "The Europeans have absolutely no grounds for demanding its elimination, " he added, pointing to recent rulings by a WTO dispute-settlement panel, a NAFTA panel and the U.S. International Trade Commission, which all upheld the CWB as a fair trader and dismissed unfounded American allegations.

"This is clearly an attempt to pacify the U.S. without giving up much in terms of Europe's own hugely-distorting farm subsidies. Prairie farmers are caught in the crossfire."

Pressure on the CWB's single-desk marketing system at the WTO originates with the U.S., where political pressure from special interest groups -- particularly North Dakota -- has led the American government to launch a multi-pronged attack on the CWB.

Hill said it was crucial that WTO members understand Canada has already made significant concessions in the talks that will affect the CWB – including the elimination of its financial guarantees if a WTO agreement is ultimately reached. He said the worst offenders (overwhelmingly the EU and U.S.) should make the biggest concessions.

Yet last Friday's proposal from the EU still fails to make meaningful cuts to its own trade-distorting farm subsidies. Its offer to cut maximum allowable support levels by 70 per cent will not affect its actual spending on trade-distorting domestic support.

"We still have a situation where the big offenders have not put meaningful concessions on the table," Hill said. "Yet they point fingers at other nations and at programs that are not even part of the overall problem."

An American offer, released earlier this month, also failed to make cuts that would have any major impact on its trade-distorting domestic farm supports.

Hill said Prairie farmers could end up having the Americans and Europeans (their major grain competitors) dictate what sort of marketing system is allowed in Canada. He called on farmers to let the Canadian government know that a good deal should not come at the expense of their marketing advantage.

Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. As one of Canada's biggest exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells to over 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less marketing costs, to Prairie farmers.

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