By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday May 26, 2021

May 26, 2021 | 12:32 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – The United States is escalating its dispute with Canada over the sale of American dairy products north of the border.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said it wants a dispute settlement panel to examine whether Canada is unfairly keeping American producers from accessing the Canadian market.

The request is a significant ramp-up of American complaints about the way Canada is allocating access to the market under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The U.S. is upset with how Canada is distributing the quantities of certain dairy products that can be imported at lower duty levels.

The trade office said a large share of those quotas have been allocated to processors rather than producers, in turn denying U.S. farmers their fair share of the supply-managed Canadian market.

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Canadian officials insist the allocations are in keeping with its commitments under the trade agreement, which took effect last July.

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Two new acquisitions by Saputo Inc. will see the company increase its non-dairy cheese and value-added ingredients holdings.

The Montreal-based dairy processor and cheese manufacturer said it has completed the acquisition of Bute Island Foods, a Scottish manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of vegan cheese.

Saputo said it has also entered into an agreement to acquire the Reedsburg, Wis., facility of Wisconsin Specialty Protein, which makes value-added ingredients like goat whey, organic lactose, and other dairy powders.

The dairy company said the purchases fit with the company’s new global strategic plan.

Saputo’s chief executive and board chair Lino Saputo said the acquisition of Bute Island Foods reflects the company’s commitment to expanding its footprint in the dairy alternative space.

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The National Farmers Union said the need for a national transit system has been highlighted by the decision by Greyhound to withdraw services in Canada.

The NFU said in a news release, a publicly owned and properly funded system is necessary to ensure Canadians in every province and territory can exercise their right to freedom of movement, as recognized in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The organization added rural and remote areas are underserved, with intermittent, expensive, and sometimes unsafe transportation options and a safe, reliable, accessible, affordable and climate-friendly national public transportation system can be designed to serve both rural and remote communities as well as larger centers.

The NFU urged provincial, federal, municipal, and Indigenous governments to work together to build a transportation system that serves all communities.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW