The following is excerpted from the 10 May 2013 article by CBC News.
The Canada-European Union free trade talks are nearing an end with agriculture issues the last major stumbling block to an agreement both sides say will boost economic growth, the EU ambassador Matthias Brinkmann said Thursday.
In a free-wheeling discussion with Canadian reporters, Brinkmann suggested that most other issues in the four-year talks have been resolved or are close to being resolved, and that two specific sticking points — how much Canadian beef to Europe and how much European cheese to Canada — is keeping the sides from a deal…
"… The beef sector is protected in the European Union and dairy products in protected in Canada, so there has to be a certain give and take."
Specifically, Brinkmann said the EU has offered to allow the minimum quantity Canadian beef producers say would be required to justify separate streams of hormone and antibiotics-free cattle — 40,000 tons a year — and even beyond that number, but Canada has demanded more…
He added that the quota the EU can accept from Canada is further affected by Europe's desire to negotiate a free trade pact with the United States, which will also want to ship beef into the continent.
In return, Brinkmann said the EU has not asked Canada to change its controversial supply management system which protects Canadian dairy and poultry farmers, but is insisting that Canada accept more imports of dairy products, especially cheese. He would not name a specific number…
This article is available in its entirety at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/05/10/pol-cp-eu-trade-agriculture-issues.html.