DPAC welcomes CUSMA dairy import licenses allocation by the Government

June 16, 2020 –

Canada’s dairy processors welcome the Government of Canada’s decision to allocate a significant portion of the  Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) dairy import licenses to dairy processors.

By allocating the majority of CUSMA’s dairy import licenses (also known as tariff rate quota, or ‘TRQs’) to Canadian dairy processors, the Government plays an important role in ensuring more stability in the Canadian dairy market in the context of trade agreements and the Covid-19 pandemic.

In conformity with the Government commitment to fully and fairly compensate the dairy sector for the last three trade agreements (CETA, CPTPP and CUSMA), DPAC has long been advocating for two key tools to mitigate trade impacts for dairy processors: 1) the allocation of TRQs to dairy processors and 2) a compensation program. DPAC recognises the government decision as an important step in the right direction, and wants to emphasise the importance of a comprehensive trade compensation program for dairy processors to maintain a viable dairy processing sector that will continue to invest and innovate to meet the needs of customers and consumers.