May 26, 2022
As the CUSMA challenge came to a conclusion, trade challenges popped up elsewhere. On May 12, New Zealand published its request for consultations with Canada which includes an extensive list of 11 arguments. The country claims that Canada’s dairy TRQ allocation measures are inconsistent with several provisions of CPTPP.
New Zealand’s Minister of Trade and Export, Hon Damien O’Connor said in his official statement:
“Many of Canada’s dairy TRQs remain unfilled and this represents a tangible loss to New Zealand’s dairy exporters. The value to New Zealand of this lost market access is estimated to be approximately $68 million over the first two years, with this expected to increase year on year as the size of these quotas increase under CPTPP.”
Last year, Canada imported 170.4 million kg of dairy products from New Zealand, with a total value exceeding $1.1 billion CAD. More information on the import of dairy from New Zealand and TRQ fill rates can be found in DPAC’s Data Dashboard.
Should this request for consultation evolve into the establishment of a formal dispute settlement panel, DPAC is committed to working collaboratively with the Government of Canada to defend our country’s ability to design and implement tariff-rate quota allocation mechanisms that meet its trade obligations and support the domestic dairy industry.