Peter Clark, an Ottawa-based international trade consultant, writes in the Financial Post that, “CETA is Canada’s biggest bilateral initiative since NAFTA,” but asks, “Will the CETA negotiations be deeper and broader than NAFTA?”
He argues that:
CANADA WANTS CETA MORE THAN EUROPE
“The reality is that Canada wants CETA more than Europe needs it. Europe recognizes this and will use its leverage to extract a high price.”
THE EU HAS NOT PUT EVERYTHING ON THE TABLE “The EU has a very clear shopping list. But what will Canada get? Is everything really on the table as advertised?”
THE CHEMICALS AGREEMENT IMPACT IS UNKNOWN Clark notes, “REACH, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical substances. …REACH regulates chemicals on their own, in preparations and in products, and impacts virtually all industrial sectors. The Joint Canada-EU scoping report… says REACH will undoubtedly impact on trade in ways which cannot easily be anticipated.”
THERE MAY NOT BE ‘BIG GAINS’ IN AGRICULTURE “Canadian farmers and ranchers hope for big gains from CETA. …(But) Europe imports only 2.7% of its consumption of dairy products, and 4.9% of its meat consumption. The worst example is pork, where the EU imports less than 1% of what it consumes. Action on export subsidies must wait for a Doha result which may never happen.”
THERE COULD BE AN EU COOL LAW
“Canadian beef and pork farmers and ranchers have been hard hit by U.S. Country of Origin rules (COOL). They need to export more to Europe and Europe has lots of room to do this. In addition to miserly market access for beef and pork, the EU is now actively considering its own Country of Origin Labelling laws. Such regulation, which plays on consumer fears, will be the trade nightmare of the next decade.”
EP WANTS ENVIRONMENTAL RULES
“European parliamentarians want to impose animal welfare and environmental rules on FTA partners.”
THE EU HAS THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
“The so-called Precautionary Principle is a cornerstone of European Regulation.”
Clark concludes with the caution that, “Canadian politicians must instruct their negotiators not to rush into a deal just for the sake of being able to claim an apparent victory. Canada needs to lose the blinders and ensure we do not give more than we get.”
Clark’s full op-ed is at http://www.financialpost.com/m/blog.html?b=opinion.financialpost.com/2010/07/14/truth-in-trade-talks&s=Opinion.
For Council of Canadians analysis and ways to take action against CETA, please go to http://canadians.org/CETA.
