Released on September 13, 2006
Agriculture and Food Minister Mark Wartman signed a new agreement this week that will liberalize agricultural trade among six of Canada's provinces and territories.The Interim Agreement on Internal Trade in Agriculture and Food Goods will see British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon take steps to harmonize interprovincial trading standards.
"It is important that, as we continue to work toward harmonization and improved trading relationships internationally, we do what we can to remove barriers in our own domestic market," Wartman said. "We will formalize our domestic relationships across Canada through the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) over the long term, but in the short term, this agreement allows us to begin that process without needing the full agreement of every province and territory in Confederation."
The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Agricultural Trade Policy Committee established a working group in 2005 to undertake a review of the scope and coverage of the Agricultural Chapter of the AIT. That group presented a report to the last meeting of Canada's Agriculture Ministers in March of 2006.
"When we were unable to reach a full national consensus on the recommendations of the working group in March, we felt it better to move ahead with an interim agreement," Wartman said. "The six supporting provinces and territories will now apply the spirit of the AIT to our agriculture and food goods as we continue to work toward a formal, national agreement on interprovincial trade in agriculture."
The obligations of the Agreement on Internal Trade include non-discrimination on goods that travel across provincial boundaries, right of entry and exit of goods between provinces, the reconciliation of standards and standard-related measures and the removal of obstacles to interprovincial trade.
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