May 16, 2022 –
Today, the Government of Canada announced a new allocation mechanism for its dairy tariff-rate quota under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement CUSMA dispute resolution panel decision of January 2022.
The Dairy Processors Association of Canada (DPAC) has strongly voiced its opinion that Canada find a solution that ensures its TRQ allocation mechanism is fully consistent with the Panel’s decision, but does not go beyond what the Panel decision required. In DPAC’s view, the revised allocation mechanism announced today does just this.
Canada’s revised CUSMA dairy TRQ allocation mechanism eliminates, in conformity with the Panel’s decision, the ‘processors-reserved pool’. In its place, a single pool will be created whereby TRQ is allocated to processors and distributors on the basis of their production or sales.
This will allow our country to meet its trade obligations and provide additional market access to its trading partners, while also providing for the predictability in imports and strong domestic processing capacity required to support its supply management system.
DPAC thanks Minister Ng and her colleagues in government for their collaboration with the industry throughout the trade dispute. The allocation mechanism announced today provides stability to the supply management system and benefits for Canadian consumers.