News

TPP talks extended

Agricultural issues continue to be a sticking point in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, according to reports coming out of the latest TPP talks in Atlanta, Georgia.

Negotiations were scheduled to end Thursday, but were extended into today and may even continue into the weekend.

One of the more contentious issues is Canada’s hesitation to open its market to more dairy products from Australia and New Zealand. There were reports this week that Canada might be ready to compromise on the issue. But Canada’s dairy industry and provincial officials continue to fight against the liberalization of dairy imports. The global news agency AFP quoted Quebec’s agriculture minister as saying that a proposal to allow another 17-thousand tons of foreign cheese into Canada would put about 400 family farms in Quebec province out of business.

Australia is also pushing for more access to the U.S. sugar market, a move opposed by U.S. sugar producers. The American Sugar Alliance says an increase in imports could cause a glut of sugar on the domestic market and trigger a taxpayer cost to U.S. sugar policy, which the group says is projected to run at no cost over the life of the 2014 Farm Bill.