TPP: New Brunswick dairy farmers relieved by trade deal

New Brunswick's dairy industry and agriculture minister are all breathing easier on Tuesday after details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal emerged.

There had been growing concern inside the dairy industry that Canada's supply-management system could be scuttled and industry would see a huge influx of foreign competition.

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When the announcement came on Monday that negotiations on the 12-nation trade deal had been finalized, many of those concerns were allayed.

Paul Gaunce, a dairy farmer near Sussex and chair of the Dairy Farmers of New Brunswick, said his members had been "very, very worried" in the months leading up to the trade deal's release.

"From the dairy perspective, we will have to say … the devil will always be in the details. I'm glad that we saved supply management for the producers," he said.

But the trade deal will give TPP countries, such as the United States, New Zealand and Australia, access to 3.25 per cent of Canada's annual dairy production.

Gaunce said the additional competition from foreign dairy producers could hurt some New Brunswick farmers, who may be on the edge of profitability.

"Producers who lose three per cent of their income if they are in financial distress, it certainly could make them go out of business," he said.

Economic Development Minister Rick Doucet, who is also the province's agriculture minister, said he and other provincial officials were in Atlanta during the final negotiations, articulating the province's concerns.

Doucet said he still needs to sit down with his officials to study the deal's final text. But he said the agreement is better than many in the industry had thought.

"When we went down to Atlanta, we were all thinking it would be between five to 10 per cent. It fell back to 3.25 per cent. I think everyone has to analyze it, the devil is in the details," he said.

Wally Smith, the president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, said in a press release that the Canadian dairy farmers would have preferred that no additional market access would be granted to other countries. But Smith's statement said the federal "government fought hard against other countries' demands."

The trade deal still must be ratified by the member countries.

New job opportunities

While Doucet said the dairy impacts are not as bad as originally feared, the economic development minister also said the TPP could open up new trade opportunities in the other industries, such as lumber and seafood.

"The TPP will eliminate tariffs on almost all of New Brunswick's key exports and provide access to new opportunities in the Asia-Pacific Rim. That is excellent," he said.

Roughly 80 per cent of New Brunswick's gross domestic product is sent to the United States, so Doucet said the deal could open new market opportunities and that could mean more jobs.

"Let's use this as a pivot for job creation and job creation opportunities," he said.

"Our number one concern is job creation in the province. This is just providing us another tool in the chest that is extremely important."