Farmers call on MPs to block U.K. deal if beef barriers remain

As the United Kingdom joined the 11 signatories to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in celebrating an agreement in principle to expand thedealearly Friday morning, the Canadian Cattle Association threatened to lobbyagainst its ratification unless itslongstanding beefs arecorralled and fixed.

The member countries of the CPTPP, including Canada, concluded nearly two years of accession talks with the British government earlier this month in Vietnam. Their proposal, which includes side letters to protect sensitive industries, is not yet public andhas yet to be legally vetted,officially signed orratified by all members.

It'sfirst potential expansion of the Pacific Rim trading dealsince it came into force between six original membersin late 2018.

But while Trade Minister Mary Ng welcomed the conclusion of these accession talks and expressed the Canadian government's official support for adding its "longstanding friend and ally" to this club, Canada's beef industry signalled it was no longer prepared to go along with trade agreements that don't do what they promised.

"If the government of Canada brings a ratification bill to Parliament without addressing the U.K. barriers to Canadian beef, CCAwill approach all Parliamentarians to defeat this bill," said Nathan Phinney, the president of the Canadian Cattle Association.

The ratification of trade treaties falls to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But actually implementing a trade deal requires changes to laws and regulations that must pass through Parliament. And Canada's ratification process,modified in response to concerns of opposition MPsduring the NAFTA talks,gives other parties in the current minority Parliament more opportunities to obstructand delay agreements whenthey have concerns.

Withthe Britishapplication to join the CPTPP, the biggest controversy in Canada comes fromcows. Both kinds beef and dairy.

As cattle farmers lose patience, the future of tariff-free British Stilton (or other cheese varieties) hangs in the balance.

CETA's unfinished business

The current tensions area legacy of where negotiators landed on theCanada-EU Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).

Two separatenegotiations are now strained the deliberations to add the firstnew member to the Pacific Rim blocand Canada's bilateral talks on a bespoke trade agreement with the U.K. to replace the terms of the interim agreement Canada struck after the British voted to leave the European Union.

When CETA talks were winding down a decade ago, additional access to Canada's protected dairy market for European cheese was traded off, at least in part, for additional market access Canadian livestock producers wanted in the European Uniona trade bloc equally and somewhat notoriously defensive of its own politically powerfulfarmers.

Despite ongoing arguments about the fairness of how tariff-free dairy import licences are administered by the Canadian government(a fight now taken up by the U.S. in its ownCUSMA dispute, and by New Zealand in the first dispute initiated under the CPTPP's new mechanism),Canadians now buy moreimportedcheese.

Canadian beef, however, hasn't been shipping out to European consumers in the numbers promisedfirst by theEuropeansand then later byBritish negotiators.Ongoing CETA implementation talks to address the problemwith more study and negotiation drag on.

British Prime Minister RishiSunak's statement Friday touts how the U.K.'sagreement in principle to join the CPTPP upholds British "food safety standards."

For Canadian beef producers already battle-hardened aftermultiple roundswith Europe, Sunak'swords sound like protectionist code.

Processing methods commonin North America remain unapproved by European or British regulators, despite years of talks to reconcile issues Canada believes have nothing to do with science orsafety.

If Canadian meat plants, which are already in short supply,can't be certified for the British export market, Canadian cattle can't be butcheredfor export to the U.K. The cost of applying bespoke British rules on processing lines for a market that's only marginallyopen to Canadian exportsistoo high.

It also runs counter to what's supposed to lie at the heart of the CPTPP: common standards.

British ship doublewhat Canadians can

The CCA saysits producers didn't export any beef at all to the U.K. market last year.Demand for Canadian beefremains strong domestically and around the world, including among other CPTPP partners.

As negotiators continue to bicker, the industry adjusted to what madecommercial sense. But that doesn't mean it's satisfied everything's fair and farmers also worry aboutlonger-term global competitiveness.

In its release Friday, the CCA said it was aware that the U.K. allowsother CPTPP members including countries like New Zealand and Australia that compete with Canadian beef internationally unlimited access to the British market. Meanwhile, Canada's been told additional beef access is "off the table."

In addition to the cheese tradeoff, British beef farmershave their own access to the Canadian market. Canada may have shipped nothing eastward to the U.K.,but the British exported 4,414 tonnes of beef westward to Canada in 2022 nearly double what Canadian farmers are allowed to ship to the U.K. under their current trade agreement.

"Yesterday's announcement of the U.K.'s accession to the CPTPP further disadvantages Canadian beef producers and is fundamentally unjust," Phinney said.

To date, cattle producers have supported ongoing talks to rectify what they see as the "lop-sided benefits" of two-way agriculturaltrade with the U.K. They insistthat what they want is a win-win for consumers in both markets.

Beef farmers lobbied hard for the CPTPP because it gave them market access toplaces like Japan for the first time, and say it has been an "excellent agreement" so far for them.

But "an agreement with the U.K. that leaves a significant barrier in place does not meet the standard of the CPTPP and the UK's bid to join should be rejected until they can do better to meet the progressive trade principles of the CPTPP," the CCA said.

If the British do not relent, cattle producers say they'll delay CPTPP accession by any means possible in Parliament andwork to gum up the bilateral negotiations until they're satisfied.

What will MPs do?

CBC News asked the Conservative and NDP trade critics for comment Thursday but has yet to receive a reply.

If ratificationtakes too long, the U.K. may lose its access to the Canadian cheese market in the meantime.

The terms of the temporary "rollover" deal struck quickly in Brexit's aftermath to ensure trade continued to flow as it had under the CETA are set to expire at the end of 2023. That sunset provision was intended to focus minds on the potential cost ofmarket disruptionand pressure both sides not to let talks dragon too long.

The next bilateral negotiating round is expectedinJune.

Once it's aCPTPP member, the U.K. couldaccess a large pot of tariff-free import quota forcheese anda long list of additionaldairy products, as well as other commodities that are supply-managed in Canada, like chicken and eggs.

The large volumeswere originally negotiated to accommodate American market demands in the original Trans-Pacific Partnership talks that concluded in 2015. When then-U.S. president Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2017, competitors like New Zealand and Australia found themselves eligible for even greater market access in Canada, to the point where substantial amounts of available import quota haven't even been taken up to date although in its ongoing CPTPP dispute, New Zealand argues this is at least partly because Canada has put administrative barriers in its way.

Once Britishmembership is ratified, the U.K. iseligible to share these CPTPP volumes with existingmembers. But whether it can keep accessing the former CETA or WTOcheese quota rolled into its interim trade deal with Canada remains in doubt.

Canada has said that additional access to Canada's dairy market is non-negotiable in their bilateral talks.

"The United Kingdom has now joined the CPTPP. This will provide the U.K. dairy exporters with access to the Canadian market," the Dairy Farmers of Canada said in a short statement Thursday evening."We expect the Canadian government will be vigilant to ensure that the dairy products coming into Canada adhere to our domestic standards for food safety and production, and that any volumes allowed into Canada are enforced according to the terms of the agreement."

Canadian dairy farmers have been compensated already by over $3 billion for their anticipated losses from the implementation of the CETA and CPTPP.

Beef farmers say if their trade issues aren't resolved and governments fail to deliver what they promised to affected industries, the beef cattle industry deservescompensation as well.