Five former premiers have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to take direct action to fix problems with the Canada-European Union trade deal that they say are thwarting Canadian agri-food sales to the 27-country market, reports the Globe and Mail.
Jean Charest, the former Quebec premier who helped kick-start negotiations that led to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a pact that entered into force three years ago in September, 2017, is one of the five.
They echoed concerns that have been repeatedly raised by industry groups such as the Canadian-Agrifood Trade Alliance (CAFTA) and warn that EU countries are still imposing barriers to imports that frustrate Canadian shipments of pork, beef, canola and grains to the common market.
On the other hand, Europeans have complained that Canada’s system for handling cheese imports is frustrating them.
While overall trade has increased since the Canada-EU deal took effect, Canadian sales of farm goods and other agri-food to the EU have not flourished as expected, said the Globe and Mail.
The former premiers who were all in power when the deal was struck include Ongtario’s Kathleen Wynne , Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall, Manitoba’s Gary Doer and Alberta’s Ed Stelmach.
They said they were told CETA would be “transformative for Canada’s world-class agri-food sector, [which is] one of the largest drivers of job creation and economic growth across Canada.”
Instead, they say, the Canada-EU deal has been in place for three years and “has failed to deliver on its promises for Canadian agri-food exporters.”
They offered Italy as an example requiring labels on pasta describing the product’s country of origin, which “is unquestionably offside … both the EU’s CETA commitments and EU law.”
