Canada and EU sign trade agreement
The Canadian Prime minister Stephen Harper and EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barosso have signed an agreement on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), establishing the main elements of the EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement. The European Dairy Association (EDA) supports the conclusion of bilateral negotiations and considers that the opening of markets will be beneficial for the two economies, particularly in dairy.
EDA believes that there will be two positive aspects for the European dairy industry: Firstly, the increased volume of tariff-rate quota for cheese to Canada. EDA considers that it is a positive step, even if about 18,000 additional tons of cheese (according to the details circulated) would only translate to around 0.3% of the annual European cheese production. However, the European dairy industry must stay vigilant as the details of the attribution of import licences for those additional quotas need still to be defined by the Canadian authorities.
“The second positive aspect might even be of greater importance for the EU dairy sector”, states Alexander Anton, secretary general of EDA. EDA has supported the overall negotiation strategy of the European Commission for this free trade agreement with Canada. This strategy was based on the EU Commission’s positive analysis of the market outlook of the European dairy sector. Dairy is one of the innovative and competitive branches of the European agriculture.
