Bob Friesen, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture in a teleconference call from Hong Kong last week was particularly critical of reports that Canada's International Trade Minister Jim Peterson had said he was prepared to reduce Canada's supports in agriculture that could ultimately cut into domestic supports.
"I haven't officially seen the transcript of what this minister said, but we have heard what he was attributed as saying," Friesen said. "If indeed he said that we are very concerned."
Friesen said the last thing Canada's ministers and negotiators should be doing is letting other countries know exactly what Canada is prepared to do.
"By doing this it only serves to weaken Canada's negotiating hand," Friesen said.
He also pointed out that Canada's agricultural sector is not ready to give up on support programs quite yet.
"We have just come out of the worst three years in terms of farm income out of the last 100 years in Canada," Friesen said. "Farmers can not afford to lose any of the government supports they are currently getting."
Friesen said there first needs to be a significant reduction in agricultural support by high-spending countries such as the European Union and the US.
Ken Ritter, chairman of the Canadian Wheat Board, said in the same teleconference call that everyone wants a good WTO deal that will contribute to improving farm income worldwide.
However, he said the push by the EU and the US government to eliminate Canada's marketing structures was misguided.
"Canadian farmers should not have to give up entities that don't distort markets in order to get the US and Europe to remove their bloated, distorted subsidy regimes," Ritter said. "The US and Europe are the problem and the main cause of low grain prices due to their high subsidies and unfair trade practices." (DJCS via Comtex)
