Interim Agreement on Internal Trade in Agriculture and Food Goods

Ministers responsible for agriculture and agri-food in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon have signed a wideranging agreement to enhance interprovincial agriculture and food trade.

The Agreement, entitled ‘Interim Agreement on Internal Trade in Agriculture and Food Goods’, has now come into effect between British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon.

It effectively works to expand the scope of the Agriculture and Food Goods Chapter (Chapter 9) of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) to encompass all technical measures affecting interprovincial agriculture and food trade, and requires that all signatory jurisdictions adhere to the general obligations of the Agreement on Internal Trade (set out in Chapter 4) in maintaining or adopting any such measures.

Technical measures covered include all sanitary and phytosanitary measures; all technical regulations and standards; and all conformity assessment procedures associated with these measures, as defined in Canada’s World Trade Organization obligations.

The agreement means that any such measures must not operate to create obstacles to internal trade; or discriminate against products from or between other jurisdictions, other than to achieve health and safety, environmental protection or other such legitimate objectives. It also means there is a commitment to reconcile differences, duplication and overlap between jurisdictions respecting all such technical measures.

The Agreement is open to signature at any time by Ministers responsible for agriculture of the federal government, other provinces, and other territories. Should all federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for agriculture sign the agreement, the Agreement on Internal Trade itself can be amended.

Background:

This action by the signatory Ministers follows a request by the Council of the Federation to all Ministers responsible for agriculture. In 2004, as part of its initiative to strengthen the Federation of Canada, the Council of the Federation adopted a comprehensive work plan to revitalize the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), subsequently endorsed by the federal government.

Ministers of Agriculture were requested to contribute to this plan by completing a review of the scope and coverage of the Agricultural and Food Goods Chapter (Chapter 9), outstanding since 1997, by July 2005, with the objective of achieving the broadest possible coverage and further liberalizing internal trade. The chapter review, including comprehensive stakeholder consultations, was undertaken in 2005. All Ministers of Agriculture approved in principle the inclusion of all technical measures within the scope of the Agriculture and Food Goods Chapter, which would significantly clarify and broaden its scope. Currently, the Agriculture and Food Goods Chapter of the AIT clearly covers only a handful of specific measures.

At a March 2006 meeting of federal-provincial territorial ministers responsible for agriculture, Ministers from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island expressed concern with the continuing delays in reaching consensus on a revised text for the Agricultural and Food Goods Chapter. These Ministers indicated their intention to proceed with a Trade Enhancement Arrangement under article 1800 of the AIT.