FEDERAL-PROVINICIAL-TERRITORIAL COMMUNIQUÉ
AGRICULTURE MINISTERS AGREE TO INTERIM MEASURES WHILE CAIS DEPOSIT IS UNDER REVIEW
OTTAWA, ON, March 23, 2005 - Federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Agriculture today agreed to interim measures which will significantly benefit producers while the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization (CAIS) deposit is under review.
Responding to the concerns of producers, ministers agreed at their mid-year meeting in Ottawa on March 2-3, 2005 to work together to find a better means of effectively engaging producers in joint management of business risk under CAIS. Officials were directed to develop alternatives to the current CAIS deposit in consultation with industry. Options will be presented to ministers for consideration at their annual meeting in July 2005.
While alternatives to the deposit are being developed, the following changes to the CAIS program are effective immediately:
The deadline for deposits for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 CAIS program is being extended to March 31, 2006.
In the meantime, producers who have funds in their CAIS account above the required one third deposit will be able to withdraw excess funds. Producers must contact the CAIS administration in their province for information on how to withdraw these funds.
Ministers also agreed to pursue the necessary authorities as quickly as possible for two additional changes to the CAIS program. These changes include:
extending the one third deposit for the 2005 program year; and
allowing producers to access all remaining funds in their accounts.
These measures will ease the cash flow pressures faced by producers.
The CAIS program is delivered federally for British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Yukon, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. For more information regarding the amendments, producers in these provinces can contact the CAIS administration toll free at 1-866-367-8506 or visit the CAIS program Web site at www.agr.gc.ca/caisprogram.
In Alberta, producers can call Agriculture Financial Services Corporation at 1-877-744-7900. In Ontario, producers can call AGRICORP at 1-877-838-5144. In Québec, producers can call La Financière agricole du Québec at 1-800-749-3646. On Prince Edward Island, producers can call 1-902-368-4842.
To date, approximately $1.2 billion has been distributed to producers through the CAIS program. Governments are committed to providing effective programming that meets the needs of producers across the country.
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For more information, contact:
Media Relations
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Ottawa
1-866-345-7972
(613) 759-7972
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| Date Modified: 2005-04-20 |
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