The Canadian organic production industry received confirmation today that the federal government will provide financial support for updating organic standards. Today in Guelph federal agriculture minister Lawrence MacAulay annouced the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) the “necessary funds to cover costs associated with the 2020 Canadian Organic Standards… Read More
Category: Canadian Agriculture Policy
Throughout the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiating rounds, groups like the United States Dairy Export Council have been lobbying for increased market access into Canada. The Americans are looking for the same kind of access that they enjoy with Mexico. This week we saw the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership… Read More
The Canadian government has conceded the same access to the country’s dairy, poultry and egg markets in the new Trans-Pacific Partnership as was agreed to the initial version of the deal in 2015 when the U.S. was still part of the TPP. Canada and the other 10 countries concluded negotiations on Tuesday for the updated… Read More
Negotiators for the 11 remaining countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), including Canada, have reached a new deal following a two-day meeting in Japan. “Today, I am pleased to announce that Canada and the 10 other remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership concluded discussions in Tokyo, Japan, on a new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for… Read More
Round 6 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks are about to begin in Montreal, and interested parties will be gauging the mood of the discussions closely. Over the weekend, there were several articles on the grumpiness of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on the topic of the Canadian negotiation strategy at the… Read More
With Australia and Japan saying they want to finalize the deal by March, Canadian agriculture groups are reiterating the importance of Canada participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (now officially known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP.) There have been serious questions about Canada’s participation in the Pacific trade deal after Prime Minister… Read More
From the inception of the Liberal government’s carbon tax plan, agriculture has had major reservations. Farm group leaders have expressed concerns over rising costs, decreasing global competitiveness and a lack of recognition for agriculture’s role in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Farm groups have lobbied hard to either be omitted from the pricing, or to receive… Read More
The Canola Council of Canada is moving on without a core funder for 2018, as Richardson International went public with its withdrawal from the national canola industry group this week. Richardson has said it did not receive enough value to justify its investment in the Canola Council, after pushing for changes to the council over… Read More
It was a timeline that was described as aggressive and fast, but not totally impossible. Early in the NAFTA renegotiations, everyone recognized that attempting to complete the negotiations within a seven month timeline was going to be difficult, but optimists thought our economic bond would win in the end. The July 1st Mexican election and… Read More
One of Canada’s largest grain companies says it has withdrawn from the country’s canola and flax industry groups, leaving the Canola Council of Canada and the Flax Council of Canada with tough budget decisions for 2018. Richardson International, the parent company of Richardson Pioneer, is no longer funding the two national oilseed organizations as of… Read More