Newsroom
2006
Farmer directors welcome minister's commitment to CWB at upcoming world trade talks
March 15, 2006
Winnipeg - The CWB's farmer-controlled board of directors welcomes yesterday's comments by Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl that decisions about the future of the CWB should be made in Canada by Canadians - not by our foreign grain competitors through the World Trade Organization (WTO).
"The Minister has rightly recognized that the fate of western Canadian farmers' marketing corporation is a sovereign matter that Americans and Europeans must not be allowed to dictate," said CWB board chair Ken Ritter.
"We now need him to come a step further and recognize that this decision belongs in the hands of western Canadian farmers themselves. It's their marketing arm. They alone should determine its future."
Ritter yesterday attended a national roundtable, along with the elected heads of more than 50 Canadian agricultural organizations. Strahl, who is also Minister for the CWB, called the meeting to gather input as WTO negotiations enter a crucial stage, with nations struggling for agreement on a new global trade deal.
At the meeting, Strahl clarified his position on defending the CWB's single desk from attacks at the WTO. The United States and European Union have insisted on targeting the CWB at the talks, despite the fact that it does not distort global trade.
"The real problem farmers are facing in levelling the playing field can be traced to bloated subsidies in the U.S. and EU," said Ritter, a farmer from Kindersley, Saskatchewan. "That's what really hurts us because it drives prices down."
WTO members are aiming to reach a draft agreement by the end of next month. Language now in the draft provides for the continuation of so-called monopoly powers. However, details to be negotiated for disciplining future use of the monopoly "have the potential to severely undermine the CWB's ability to operate for the benefit of western Canadian farmers.
Controlled by western Canadian farmers, the CWB is the largest wheat and barley marketer in the world. As one of Canada's biggest exporters, the Winnipeg-based organization sells to over 70 countries and returns all sales revenue, less marketing
costs, to Prairie farmers.
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