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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-03-04, Page 14PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4,1992. GATT alert scaled down but OMMB will be vigilant Having demonstrated the deter­ mination of farmers to keep supply management by parading 40,000 people on Parliament Hill Feb. 21, the scale of demonstrations against GATT proposals will be reduced for the next while, Bruce Saunders, member of the Ontario Milk Mar­ keting Board (OMMB) told Huron County dairy producers in Brussels Friday. Mr. Saunders said federal politi­ cians have said they got the mes­ sage and so farmers will back off a little but be prepared to mount smaller demonstrations whenever F arm Public education on animals rights finding success The Ontario Farm Animal Coun­ cil is having success in getting a more balanced view of animal rights into the media, Gordon Coukell, a member of the council told Huron county dairy farmers at the annual meeting of the Huron County Milk Committee Friday in Brussels. Mr. Coukell, who represents the Ontario Milk Marketing Board on the council, an organization repre­ senting each of the major farm ani­ mal producer groups, said his organization has spent two years convincing the media they should give a balanced view of the animal rights situation. Now, he said, it's not unusual to receive a copy of an article that will appear in a paper a few days before printing and be asked for a response. The council has also been responding to several proposed bills in the Ontario Legislature, one of which would have virtually shut down the white veal industry. Another bill would have prevented any testing on animals before medicines were used on humans. Another would have probably made it very difficult to have a 4H pro­ gram and show calves. The council is also undertaking research into farm animal housing from an animal welfare point of view. There are 33 animals rights groups in Ontario and most have some agricultural and environmen­ tal concerns as part of their agenda. Three groups have specifically tar­ geted animal agriculture, he said although there haven’t been specific concerns about dairy. Animal rights activists will take one very bad situation and portray it as the general situation in farm­ ing, he said and the vast per cent- age of the population has no way of knowing what the real situation is. The U.S, Humane Society, which has now become an animal rights organization, he said, has targeted such dairy issues as reduction of care in larger herds, transportation of sick or injured animals to slaughter, dehoming of cattle with­ out anaesthetic, neglect of bull calves, separation of cows from their calves and raising of replace- Learning the Ropes Pays Off needed to reinforce the message that supply management can't be traded away in order to get a wider trade agreement under the GATT talks. The huge demonstration had ele­ vated the awareness of the danger of the GATT proposals, Mr. Saun­ ders said, and the issue is being raised regularly in parliamentary debates. Mr. Saunders thanked the pro­ ducers for their participation in the Ottawa rally and at a smaller rally in Kitchener. "What you have been able to do in the last months has surprised everyone," he said. With ment calves in hutches instead of group pens. Public perception is a problem, he said. Urban people driving down a road and seeing a field of fat beef cattle, then seeing gaunt dairy cat­ tle, sometimes complain the dairy cattle are being underfed. He said he had received a letter from one Ottawa-area woman concerned about the cruelty of raising calves in "igloos" (plastic calf hutches). GET READY FOR SPRING FERTILIZERS •Terra-Gator® with air spreader and impregnator •Standard Mixes •Custom Formulations •Micro Nutrients •Accurate bulkspreading •Bulk Delivery Unit •Spreaders readily available CHEMICALS We have a large supply on hand Protect your crop against insects and weeds Chemical Application Unit Available for P.P.I., Pre or Post complete with Dickey-John Monitor & 60 Foot Boom SEED CORN •Hyland Let us build you a fertilizer, and chemical program to meet your special requirements. Phone 523-4241 or come in and see us for Your complete line of spring planting supplies HoWson & Howson Limited Flour & Feed Millers, Complete Farm Supplies Grain Elevators WINGHAM, BLYTH, CARGILL politicians spending the Christmas holiday period talking about tariffi­ cation of border controls there was a feeling they were taking that option seriously, he said. "Now they know we're not happy." People in Ottawa had never seen anything like the 40,000 people on Parliament Hill, he said. Police were worried about the danger of a crowd that large getting out of hand but "to your credit it was very well mannered, very well behaved." There was a cost of organizing all this activity, Mr. Saunders said and there will be a temporary extra administration fee of 25 cents per hectalitre in April and May to help pay the costs. It's hard to know who is the greatest enemy to supply manage­ ment, the U.S. government or the European Common Market, he said. The U.S. has had a waver under GATT for nearly 40 years that allows it to refuse any imports of dairy products, cotton, sugar and peanuts. It also has a deficiency payment system that it wants under the current "Dunkel" proposal, to be exempted from toughest reforms, even though it should clearly not benefit from such pro­ tection under the definitions of sub­ sidies being worked out. The Europeans have become major players on the export scene through subsidies, often taking markets away from the Americans and causing U.S. retaliation. The Europeans are prepared to discuss tariffication provided it doesn't force reduced levels of pro­ duction but they won't strike a deal unless the U.S. gives up its waivers under GATT and include deficien­ cy payments in areas to be reduced. Application of pre-ptant incorporated sprays at the same time. What the Europeans want is too much for the Americans to give up, Mr. Saunders said. Still, he warned, sometimes the pressure for a deal becomes so great that what's in the deal becomes secondary. While only six countries (Japan, Austria, Switzerland, Korea and Israel) support Canada's position on retaining and clarifying Article 11 which allows border controls for orderly domestic marketing, only six to eight countries oppose our position. Most countries don't care one way or another. Mr. Saunders pointed out the danger of turning current border controls into tariffs. If the price of butter is $5.33 per KG and the "world" price is $1.50 Canada could impose a tariff to help make up the difference. But if the tariff was 200 per cent, the price of imported butter would still only be $4.50 which would mean the THURSDAYS FRIDAYS •Mixed grain •Barley •Oats •Wheat Ontario price would immediately have to drop 83 cent per KG. If the world price dropped, the 200 per cent tariff would drop as well and prices would collapse even further. There arc those who suggest that Canada could just slap any tariff it wants on to make up the difference but these tariffs must be negotiated, Mr. Saunders said. In addition, these tariffs must be reduced by 37 per cent over a seven year period. In addition there are provisions in the Dunkel text to reduce "internal" subsidies. A subsidy is defined as the difference between the "world" price and the domestic price. So the price difference between what a Canadian farmers gets under supply management and the world price is termed as a "subsidy", even though the world price doesn't reflect any cost of production. Provisions require that over time these "subsi­ dies" also be reduced. •Soybeans •White Beans •Grass Seeds