Elbert van Donkersgoed
February 12, 1999
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Farm Commentary by Elbert van Donkersgoed
February 12, 1999When European farmers discuss free trade-they don't.
Their conversations include fair trade, level playing field, environmental protection, jobs, consumer resistance and compensatory payments. In North America, whenever we discuss the ongoing international efforts to create more porous borders for consumer goods, we often call them free trade talks.
Our choice of words says a lot about how we think the world should work. The European farmer's avoidance of the phrase "free trade" says a lot about how they think the world should work.
In 1989 the Berlin wall came down and ushered in a new world paradigm--one super power, the Unites States. That super power has consistently called for opening up market access in language that emphasizes freedom to trade. Since the early 90s the North American Free Trade Agreement has made the 49th parallel more porous. The Uruguay Round of trade talks created a new World Trade Organization.
Now, the planning has started for a new round of world trade talks. What phrases will Ontario farmers use to describe their vision for farm products in cross-border marketing?
Daily, the voices for market access from our friends to the south tantalize us with an appeal to freedom and our frontier spirit. At the same time how much do we hear about the consequences of more porous borders?
Cross-border marketing means sharing markets with many more producers. Buyers, consumers will have more choice, more producers from which to choose. Consumers tend to favour those with the lowest prices. To get the attention of those consumers we will have to offer even lower farm prices.
Greater market access in other countries will benefit Ontario farmers if and only if we are the lowest cost producers, so that those foreign consumers will buy our product when prices in their country decline.
We pride ourselves with the claim that we are competitive. Do we mean it? To the consumer a competitive price is the reduced price, the knockdown price, the cut price, the budget price, the bargain price.
European farmers have not let US rhetoric define their views on cross-border marketing. Last week Stefan Tangermann, professor at the University of Gottingen in Germany, discussed the European perspective on agricultural trade liberalization at a University of Guelph seminar. He was asked if the European understanding of free trade was the same as ours.
He said: "Europe does not talk about free trade. They discuss fair trade, a level playing field, environmental protection, jobs, consumer resistance to genetically modified organisms and compensatory payments."
What Ontario's farmers need is a made in Ontario language for discussing international agricultural trade.
-- 30 -- Elbert van Donkersgoed is Executive Director of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario and Editor of Earthkeeping Ontario. The original version of this Corner Post was prepared for CFCO Radio in Chatham.
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