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PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2004.
No certainties in litigation, Woods reminds
Continued from page 1
assembling a team of trade experts
that feels it has a strong case, but
when you're in litigation there are no
certainties, he said.
"Our legal team is based on the
premise that we're going to go out
and get what you need," he said.
"One of the strongest parts of our
case is that the U.S. government
through the Harvard University risk
assessment and through the state-
ments of U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Anne Venneman, has said Canada is
a minimal risk country.
After the assessment said Canada
was of little risk of spreading BSE,
Venneman shobld have opened the
border to Canadian cattle. Pascal
Wendy Holm, P. Ag., award-win-
ning agrologist, farm columnist,
economist and author, will be the
guest speaker at the Huron County
Federation of Agriculture's annual
regional meeting to be -held in
Brussels Arena, Brussels, Ontario on
Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.
The title of her talk is Hard Ball:
Playing to Win on the Farm Trade
Front.
A widely-read farm columnist and
expert on international trade and
competition policy who doesn't pull
said but instead of making a simple
decision she set up a program to cre-
ate rules for the entry of Canadian
cattle. In doing so she created oppor-
tunities for American opponents of
trade like R-Calf to throw, up road-
blocks.
R-Calf producers in Montana and
North Dakota have a hard time
grasping that Canadians can actually
have a lower cost of production than
they do, Pascal said. He said he can
understand their feelings when you
realize that 100 truckloads of cattle
were heading south from western
Canada to a packing plant in
Billings, Montana every day.
R-Calf doesn't, want to trade with
anyone but themselves, Pascal said.
her punches, Holm will explain in
plain language why Washington's
17-month closure of the American
border to Canadian beef and cattle is
in contravention of NAFTA, what
remedies this gives Canada and how
Canadian farmers affected by BSE
can encourage both Ottawa and sen-
ior cattle industry leaders to act.
While the current BSE crisis is
what prompted organizers to bring
Holm in as a speaker, she will also
provide local farmers with a quick
update on The Farmers' Resolution
"I'll bet that once we get the bor-
der open these guys will come for-
ward with a countervail challenge on
the aid money we've got from the
government," he said.
"By fighting back we have gained
instant respect (of the U.S. govern-
ment)." Woods said. "The cost of
(their) losing is too big to ignore.
The by-product (of the suit) is we're
sending a clear message: the border
closure has nothing to do with sci-
ence; it has everything to do with the
fact the American system will keep
the border closed as long as possi-
ble."
Roy Cunningham asked Woods if
he did win how he would collect
from the U.S. .government if it
to Exempt Water from the NAFTA
(an initiative with the support of
some 200 Canadian farm organiza-
tions).
A general question period will fol-
low, in which Holm will also take
questions on other trade interference
issues such as OECD support levels.
For more information and tickets
contact Huron County Federation of
Agriculture at 1-800-511-1135, 1-
519-482-9642 or any HCFA director.
Deadline for ticket sales in Oct.
4.
refused to pay.
Woods said there has never been.a
NAFTA Chapter 11 case where the
country that lost refused to pay.
"NAFTA itself is on trial," he said.
"The whole of NAFTA would be
torn to shreds."
While Pascal puts great hopes in
the Chapter 11 suit, he said farmers
must also take other actions.
The Canadian cow-calf industry
must come on side to allow cattle
from all states to be imported, not
just the 39 states that are currently
declared free of the diseases blue
tongue and antiplasmosis and
allowed to ship stocker cattle to
Canada.
"That's where you people have to
go to work," he told the cattlemen, in
the job of pressuring our government
to open th- borders.
Until that there's going to be
tremendous pressure in some north-
ern states against opening the bor-
der.
Farmers must also pressure the
government for better support pro-
grams. He labeled the CAIS pro-
gram as "Chartered Accountants
Income Support" instead of
Canadian Agriculture Income
Support.
And, he said, the Canadian gov-
ernment needs to get directly
involved in building slaughter plants
because under the current uncertain-
ties, no entrepreneur is going to want
to put money up. Even if the plants
have to be moth-balled in two years
it would be cheap insurance, he
said. Farm journalist to speak
at Federation meeting
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