(Montreal) Dairy, poultry and egg producers under Canada’s supply management system will be compensated for losses incurred as a result of the adoption of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement ( ACEUM). Ottawa announces that more than 1.7 billion will be disbursed in the form of direct payments and investment programs.
This amount had already been announced in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s Fall Economic Statement.
The amount will be summarily distributed in this way, up to 1.2 billion in direct payments to dairy producers; up to 112 million to poultry and egg producers in the form of on-farm investment aid; up to 105 million to processors in these three sectors in the form of aid for investments in installations; and up to 300 million to dairy processors through an innovation assistance program.
In a press release published Monday, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau mentions that these funds will help producers and processors to be more competitive in the industry.
The Minister underlined that after the financial aid linked to the trade agreements with the European Union and with the States of South America and Asia (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement), an additional envelope amounting to 1.2 billion will be reserved for dairy producers for the next six years.
“With this announcement, the Government of Canada is delivering on its commitment to fully and fairly compensate producers and processors who have lost market share due” to various international trade agreements, the statement read.
“Promise made, promise kept,” we add in a quote attributed to Minister Bibeau.
This announcement was greeted with joy by the Producteurs de lait du Québec, who believe that this fund will absorb “a significant portion” of market share losses. The president of the association, Daniel Gobeil, also sees investments in the optimization of farms and factories positively.
In a press release, milk producers recall that the new version of the North American Free Trade Agreement offers “additional access to the Canadian market” equivalent to approximately 3.9% of the market.
The Bloc Québécois critic for agriculture, Yves Perron, and for international trade, Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, also expressed their delight at this promise kept by the Liberal government.
“Ottawa must remember its other commitment, however, that of not making any other compromise that would cause additional breaches in the supply management system in future free trade agreements,” they warned in a written response.
The Bloc has tabled a bill aimed at protecting the integrity of supply management.
According to the data provided by the federal government, more than 100,000 direct jobs are attributable to the agricultural sectors under supply management. There are 9,952 dairy farms and 4,773 chicken, turkey, egg and hatching egg producers in the country.