Coalition for a Fair Agricultural Model | March 3, 2004
Over 10,000 People Support the Coalition for a Fair Agricultural Model
Launched a few months ago at the ministerial miniconference held in Montreal within the context of the WTO negotiations, the GO5 Coalition for a Fair Agricultural Model has reached the 10,000 member milestone... and it's still growing!
For Laurent Pellerin, Coalition spokesperson and President of the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), this 10,000th member confirms the need for such a coalition. "While the pace of the WTO negotiations has slowed since the failure of Cancun, we are happy to note that our Coalition's membership is constantly increasing. This shows the extent to which these negotiations could have a major impact, not only on producers and their business partners, but on a multitude of organizations and on the Quebec public," said Mr. Pellerin.
Thirty elected representatives support the Coalition
Among the prominent supporters are 30 federal and provincial elected representatives from different parties, including FranEcoise Gauthier, Quebec Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Recruiting efforts will intensify in the weeks ahead. Information and awareness activities will be organized in different Quebec regions, including the Eastern Townships, Mauricie, Lower St. Lawrence, Outaouais, Abitibi- TDemiscamingue and Saguenay - Lac-St-Jean. The first activity will be held on March 4 in Sherbrooke. These events will bring together a number of public personalities.
Supply management: a profitable solution for everyone
The Coalition's primary objective is to rally stakeholders from economic sectors upstream and downstream from agricultural production, coming from every region of Quebec, who are concerned about the future of agriculture in Quebec and Canada. The Coalition seeks to support the Government of Canada in the WTO negotiations so that it obtains a result that preserves supply management as a development tool for the agriculture and food sector in Quebec and Canada.
It is to be recalled that producers under supply management (milk, chicken, turkey, table eggs and hatching eggs) plan their production to meet Canadian market needs and avoid surpluses. Thanks to mechanisms that allow them to negotiate prices collectively based on their cost of production, they obtain a fairer price from the market and can live decently without subsidies. However, for supply management to be effective, it must rely on border protection to counter imports of subsidized products from other countries. At the end of the current WTO negotiations, Canada must preserve an effective supply management system, especially since it says that it is unable to offer its farmers financial support comparable to its leading trading partners, the United States and Europe.
"The proposals still on the WTO bargaining table after Cancun are unacceptable for Quebec and Canadian producers under supply management. They endanger the foundations of a fair agricultural model, supply management, which benefits producers and their partners, guarantees consumers high-quality food at good prices, produced close to home, while sparing the taxpayers. We will therefore remain very vigilant throughout the negotiations," added Laurent Pellerin.
Together, the 9,172 farms under supply management in Quebec market $2.3 billion worth of milk, poultry, hatching eggs and table eggs, or 40% of Quebec farm revenue. With their processor partners, they provide over 70,000 direct and indirect jobs.
To reach the Coalition
Anyone who wants to learn more about supply management and the progress of the WTO negotiations, or who wants to join the Coalition, can do so by visiting the Web site of the Coalition for a Fair Agricultural Model, Supply Management, at www.go5quebec.ca .Coalition for a Fair Agricultural Model:
