DFC reacts to government announcement

Dairy Farmers of Canada welcome today’s announcement by the Government of Canada regarding its intention to begin moving forward on a mitigation and compensation package to cover losses that will be suffered by the Canadian dairy sector as a result of the access granted in the CETA deal. Dairy Farmers of Canada are relieved that the government is committing to the long-awaited compensation, and is looking forward to working together to discuss what it will look like – using the joint CETA/TPP package announced on October 5th, 2015 as a starting point. In particular, DFC will urge the government to include the development of a funding program to attract new investments into increasing processing capacity across the country. Processors in Canada need investments in order to help increase their capacity to compete in the post-CETA market, the time to make those investments is before the implementation of the deal. We would also hope that these negotiations will provide a model for the TPP compensation package if and when Canada makes the decision to ratify.

As a result of the CETA agreement, the European Union will be permitted to ship an additional 17,700 tonnes of cheese into Canada, per year. This amounts to an annual loss of between $110-150 million per year in revenues and market share for Canadian dairy farmers, in perpetuity. DFC is eager to sit down with the government to make adjustments to the package that was announced on October 5th so that it better reflects the needs of Canadian dairy farmers.