Italy won’t ratify EU free-trade deal with Canada says new farm minister…
“We will not ratify the free-trade treaty with Canada because it protects only a small part of our PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) products,” Centinaio told the newspaper.
“Doubts over this agreement are shared by many of my European colleagues.” In the 28-member European Union, Italy has the most food products with PDO and PGI labels, including Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Prosciutto di Parma ham
Cheese, again.
Time to send in Chrystia.
Canada actually has an excellent Italian-style cheese* and meat industry because – rather ironically – the industry was developed by Italian immigrants (e.g., Saputo, Tre Stelle and Marcangelo).
With some common-sense reservations, I agree that Italy does have a case when we carelessly label Canadian salami as “Genoa” or Canadian cheese as “Parmigiano”. It harkens back to the old days of Ontario wines when we cheerfully labelled fizzy plonk from Niagara as “champagne”.
However, all that said, this is still largely an issue of competing protectionist arguments. And let me tell you, EU protectionism makes Canada’s efforts seem strictly amateur by comparison.
Pot, meet kettle.
* With the usual limitation that all our cheese products have to be pasteurized to death to satisfy government food safety diktats. That does tend to put a crimp on the flavour. For what it’s worth, US cheesemakers face the same challenge.
“Canada actually has an excellent Italian-style cheese”
Excellent?
Have you tasted the boring flavorless crap from Saputo?
None of which matters, except in a playground argument,because they’ve declined to ratify the treaty. Another historic triumph for Trudles.
When recently driving through Vermont and Quebec, I saw many artisan cheese operations in Vermont but none in Quebec. Could it be that being a member of a cartel reduces the need to improve quality of your products? You are guaranteed the ability to sell all you can produce.
I have noticed in stores that the Quebec cheese mafia purposley tries to package specialty cheeses so that they look like they come from Europe.
In fact you have to search rather carefully to find that the second rate cheese you have in your hand is actually from Canada.
And in many cases when cheeses are subdivided by a store and rewrapped the origin of the cheese is not even indicated yet the cheese is given a European sounding name.
It is 100% crookery.
The Italians have a very valid point.
I agree. Most of the time there is no place of origin, just name (often Italian or French), weight and price. Also, look at olive oil. Bottled in Spain. Ok, it was bottled in Spain, but where were the olives from?
Oh, look!
Another trade deal Justin screwed up!
Yep, your Cheese Wiz PM fumbles, stumbles, and spurts again. While MY President is as smoothe as melted Velveta.
Kenji, Velveeta?
Oh, dear …
But, seriously, this is just further testament to the weakness of Justin’s character and ability. If he looks for more European or Chinese trade deals, we’ll still get (Monterrey) jack.
I had trouble with this statement.
“Its supporters say it would increase trade between the partners by 20 percent and boost the EU economy by 12 billion euros ($14 billion) a year and Canada’s by $12 billion.”
The above comment does not take into consideration where the money comes from. You can’t just boost an economy by changing the trade rules without it affecting the economy somewhere else. For example, if we all start buying Italian-made cheese, we won’t be buying Canadian or American cheese. So yes, our trade with Italy goes up and our trade with America (or within Canada) goes down by the same amount.
On the other hand, if Canada opened a new mine or built a pipeline to the west coast, and actually increased its net exports (not merely changing its export partnerships) then yes, Canada’s economy would grow. Of course, some other country that used to supply that oil will have it’s economy decreased.
Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe we can all grow our economies just by changing the trade rules.
“Maybe I’m missing something.”
So I thought about this.
Canadians must eat their cheese.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qHVSZM7CX0
All Canadians will now be required to consume 14.5 kilograms of Canadian cheeses per year.
(*based on actual per capita Canadian cheese consumption ending 2017 at 13.79 kg per person per year)
This rate will be annualized at 2%. Only after this consumption quota is consumed will Canadians be allowed to purchase imported cheeses or cheese by products.
All Canadians must purchase a Cheese Consumption Card (CDCCCC) from the Canadian Dairy Commission By August 1 2018 and begin logging Canadian Cheese purchases no later than August 15th 2018. Canadians who consume less than 50% of their annual quota will be subject to fines and/or imprisonment.
Lactose intolerant Canadians must register with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for a cheese consumption deferment (CEAACCD) and participate in the Canadian Anthropogenic CO2 Reduction / CH4 Recycling Program (CACORMERP).
I got “The uploader has not made this video available in your country.”
Sorry, Obama “eat your peas” snippet.
same here:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjx3zx
but now it’s not as much fun.
From Gateway Pundit,
“While Justin Trudeau was busy extolling the value of unfair trade between the US and Canada over the past month, Canada lost 7,500 jobs, according to the latest release last week by Statistics Canada. The latest employment report for Canada disappointed analysts, who, on average, predicted that Canada would gain 22,000 jobs for the month of May.
Canada’s economy remains lack-luster, with an unemployment rate of 5.8%, labor participation rate of just 65.3% and year-over-year GDP growth of just 1.3%. Meanwhile in the United States, the latest Atlanta Fed Estimate pegs the seasonally adjusted annual GDP growth rate at 4.6% with unemployment sitting at 3.8% and labor participation clocking in at 62.7%.”
Again we have a trade agreement (debateble wrt is it a good deal or bad) hinging on Canada ditching supply management.
I think it wise politically to stage this in a way that when the inevitable happens that juthtin wears this.
Harper would have handled this differently but as juthtin is in charge let me just say.
You go girl.
Harper DIDN’T handle it; can kicked down road.
I expect the can kicking to continue, until Canada has been without a trade deal with any country, for 65 billion years. ie. the dairy lobby REALLY IS that powerful in Quebec. And the rest of the dairy producers just go along for the ride.
Scott Moe truly does have an opportunity here. It is easily shown, that the laws of Canada have been selectively applied to our pipeline detriment. Therefore they cannot come after us through the courts if we simply stopped obeying their rules. Even if they could, NOT WITHSTANDING CLAUSE.
Moe needs to take Saskatchewan out, unilaterally, and forge own deals with US, EU, India, and anyone else who wants in.
Stop behaving as if the rules apply to us, when clearly they don’t apply to them.
But since Moe and the Sask party care nothing for Saskatchewan and only laugh at the deluded fools who vote for and send them donations…. Just as Brad Wall did before him.
I hear from Drudge that Canadians are boycotting the US. Does this mean that formerly quiet little coves on the lake won’t be clogged with a dozen or more vessels of the “Canadian Navy” rafted together like some God forsaken condo complex?
see you in Florida.
Tim I think that would be the Quebec navy your talking about, as far as boycotting goes it sure doesn t look like it when I look at the traffic coming across the bridge from Ogdensburg NY to Johnstown Ontario. Maybe people are trying to get rid of the Canadian Peso while its still worth something. If Justine keeps making a fool of himself and us it might be a good idea.
There is a cheese factory right across the border from us in Quebec. We like going there, but I wouldn’t like being forced to subsidize it.
I’ll make a bet with you: US milk discretely shipped across your border, or vice versa, on occasion under cover of darkness. There’s plenty of “no name” cheese in all the grocery stores in Canada. Who noes where it’s from or even, what it really is? It’s probably in your grocery store at home, too. Italians, ehhhh whatzaborderfor?
Related and definitely worth reading:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-eu-cheese-ceta-1.4159465
Our silly weak PM is no match fir Canada’s dairy cartel.
It sounds like your “supply management” problem is like our ethanol problem. Pandering to farmers is kind of universal, I think, because they are and easily identifiable class of one-issue voters.
Keep in mind the previous globalist-controlled Italian government was perfectly willing to acquiesce to the deal.
What changed is that Rome is back in the hands of Italian patriots who actually take their people’s side in disputes.
They are done letting Libya use Italy as a septic tank and letting the Montreal branch of the Sicilian mafia cheat Italian farmers out of millions of euro by selling fake “Italian” cheese to gullible Canadians.
how do we spell protection? anyone want to guess?
LPOC? Let’s Protect Our Communists.
The Canadian cheese industry is like the Canadian wine industry – 3rd rate.
I haven’t bought Canadian wine in decades.
An industry that uses up to 80% foreign grape juice (US) isn’t a local product.
A coupla of years back the Ontario vintners applied to raise the foreign content to 90%! but were refused by the government. Hell why quit pretending?
Kenji: the Canadian cheese lobby has made retailers remove Velveeta from their ‘cheese’ displays. It can’t sit next to their ‘fake’ cheese.
What’a country!