Canadian durum exports to the home of pasta are facing a potential political trade barrier. Italy is moving toward implementing a mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) policy for pasta, similar to the COOL rules the U.S. imposed on beef and pork from 2008 to 2015. The Italian government has drafted regulations that would require all pasta... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
Canada’s largest agriculture lender believes predictions of a re-negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are premature and a patient strategy is the best path forward for the Canadian government and the country’s supply managed sector. Speaking at the Canadian Dairy XPO last week in Stratford, Ont., Farm Credit Canada agricultural economist Jean-Philippe Gervais told... Read More
Late last week, Canada's federal, provincial, and territorial governments announced concluded negotiations of a new Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). The CFTA replaces the existing Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), which has been in place since 1995. The CFTA will take effect July 1, 2017, and is designed to "reduce barriers to trade, investment, and... Read More
As the Canadian government contemplates moving forward on a free trade agreement with China, the canola industry sees tremendous potential to increase exports to the country that already imports more canola seed than any other. That's because Canadian canola seed headed to China currently faces a nine percent tariff, whereas the tariff on soybeans is…Read More
Last week, I woke in the middle of the night to go north. Well, northwest, then north, then more northwest. It took over nine hours to get to Kapuskasing, a mostly mining and lumber town of about 9,500 people. Kap sits in what's called the Great Clay Belt of Northern Ontario — approximately 16 million... Read More
Saskatchewan's new provincial budget will cost farmers an average of $2 per acre, according to calculations by the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS). While there's been a fair bit of discussion about the province reducing exemptions on farm fuel and the impact that will have, there hasn't been as much talk about how the... Read More
This column is long overdue. It should have been written shortly after Trudeau announced plans for a mandatory national price on carbon emissions during harvest in early October. Or even earlier, when some provincial governments started announcing their carbon tax or cap and trade programs. For all the time that's passed and words that have... Read More
The federal government is proposing the elimination of deferred cash purchase tickets for grain sales — a tool used by farmers to manage cash flow for tax purposes from one year to the next. When delivering a listed grain (such as wheat, oats, barley, rye, flaxseed, or canola), producers have long had the option of... Read More
India has granted a last-minute temporary exemption allowing Canadian pulse exports to continue without being fumigated in Canada. "This new exemption means that Canadian pulse exports leaving Canada on or before June 30, 2017, will not require fumigation in Canada," said a statement from Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne early... Read More
The House of Commons Agriculture Committee sent a letter to the federal Health Minister last week outlining concerns about Health Canada's proposed ban of imidacloprid, one of the three main neonicotinoid seed treatments used by farmers. The extended comment period on the proposal to phase out imidacloprid use over the next three years concluded on... Read More