European cheese exporters are not happy with Canada’s quota system for controlling cheese imports.
Under the free trade deal with Europe, their access to Canadian markets was allowed to double from two to four per cent.
However, the Canadian government decided to grant 60 per cent of the import permits to small-scale businesses. Some have been finding it difficult to make a profit.
Ray Price of Sunterra Group in Alberta told Reuters that it’s expensive to transport the volume he’s been allocated. He’d need four times as much to fill a container and take advantage of normal transportation charges.
The federal government has countered that many of the permits may be exercised between Thanksgiving and Christmas and that after the new importers line up supply chains, imports will increase to fill the quota.
Attilio Zanetti, whose Italy-based company Zanetti exports to Canada, said “We were hoping and expecting to significantly increase our Canadian sales.
“I would not recommend Canada’s CETA cheese tariff rate quota scheme to the Americans (negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement).
“My advice would be ‘Buyer beware,'” Zanetti said.
