Critics are worried that Canada’s newest law will lay an egg.
What happened: Bill C-202 will be the first bill to receive royal assent under the new government after passing the Senate. It will prevent the foreign affairs minister from making commitments to increase tariff-free imports of foreign dairy, poultry, or eggs in trade talks.
- Canada operates under a supply management system when it comes to these products, capping the amount importers can buy without facing steep tariffs as a way to keep production in line with demand and ensure stable incomes for farmers.
- The bill was the project of the Bloc Québécois, which put forward three different versions of it since early 2020.
Why it matters: This means that changes to dairy, poultry, or egg tariffs can no longer be used as a chip at the trade bargaining table. Critics have pointed out that this is a particularly inopportune time for that to happen, considering the many trade negotiations on the horizon.
- Dairy quotas have been a massive thorn in the side for both the trade partner we’re trying to keep around (the U.S.) and ones that we’re trying to bolster relationships with. That includes the U.K., which ended trade talks last year because of them.
Bottom line: Advocates of the bill argue that it was needed to ensure stability for Canadian dairy, poultry, and egg farmers, but it might come at the expense of trade advances.—QH