The European Union’s trade negotiators are coming to Ottawa
next week in an attempt to finalize a free-trade deal that is proving elusive.
The Europeans said they’re ready to conclude a deal, but
Canadians say they have to give some more to open the European market to
Canadian beef.
John Maswold of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association told
Canadian Press that Canada wants all of the details nailed down because
Europeans have, in the past, found ways to thwart Canadian beef entry into
their markets.
He also said the deal will have to be generous enough to
make it worthwhile for Canadian farmers to forego the use of growth promotants
and sub-therapeutic amounts of antibiotics in feed. Both are banned in Europe,
but commonly used in North America.
There is no word from the negotiators about any deals on Canada’s
protections for dairy and poultry farmers via reductions in import tariffs or increases
in tariff-rate quotas.
