The government has today requested the establishment of a panel to hear its dispute against Canada regarding the administration of dairy tariff rate quotas (TRQs) under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
‘Canada is not living up to the commitments it made under CPTPP to allow dairy products into Canada. This is impacting New Zealand exporters, who remain effectively locked out of the Canadian market, and Canadian consumers, who are missing out on the increased consumer choice that CPTPP promises,’ Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said.
New Zealand initiated the dispute on 12 May this year by requesting formal consultations with Canada to address these concerns. Consultations took place in June, but did not resolve matters. New Zealand has therefore made the decision to request the establishment of a panel to hear and decide the dispute.
“This is ultimately about ensuring that our exporters can access the benefits that were agreed under CPTPP. These were hard-won negotiated outcomes, and it is important that our exporters have confidence and certainty in their ability to enjoy them,” Damien O’Connor said.
“New Zealand continues to value its strong friendship with Canada, one of our warmest and closest relationships in the world. This is a discrete trade issue, and the dispute settlement mechanisms in CPTPP provide us with a neutral forum to resolve it.”
New Zealand submitted its request for the establishment of a panel today. Canada and New Zealand will now engage in a process to compose the panel by selecting the three individuals to sit as panellists. Other CPTPP parties also have 10 days to join the dispute as third parties if they have a substantial interest in the dispute.
New Zealand has previously brought disputes in the World Trade Organization, but this is the first dispute New Zealand has taken under a free trade agreement, and the first dispute any party has taken under the CPTPP.
Canada is NOT going to remove their subsidies to dairy farms. The same is with Japan who refuses to remove subsidies to rice and other cereal cultivation (or whaling for that matter). US has huge farm subsidies, for instance for bio-fuel farms when may parts of the world is starving. US will accuse Russia for not exporting food but they will continue to use to produce ethnol or feed animals. NZ effort can only partially work. US/EU/Canada never fully honoured the agreements signed in the past and they will invent reasons, such as compliance or greenwash issues, to discourage imports.
We need to sell some of our poor quality assets such as the yellow pages to Canadian pension funds and fool them instead. Joking.