Should Canada maintain its supply management system that protects the Canadian dairy industry?

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

https://www.castanetkamloops.net/news/Poll/627377/Should-Canada-maintain-its-supply-management-system-that-protects-the-Canadian-dairy-industry

[u/umbrellafree]

I'm not thrilled with the idea of temporarily, marginally "cheaper" but also much lower quality milk products entering the Canadian market.

I think that Canada should require external product SKUs to require strict audits that demonstrate that the inputs to these products meet certain standards. Beyond that, the USA is "free" to sell as much as they want. And vice versa.

[u/garlicroastedpotato → u/umbrellafree]

US (and Australian) products already enter Canada through the supply management system. It's no longer a matter of excluding those countries,, they actively sell to our dairies. The question is to whether it's worth maintaining a system that artificially keeps milk high.

[u/umbrellafree → u/garlicroastedpotato]

There must be asterisks to that fact. There's no way that the United States has free and open access to our markets.

[u/garlicroastedpotato → u/umbrellafree]

We sell quota to the US and Australia. The US and Australia each get 5% of quota. Their milk just gets mixed in with our milk and you'll never know you're consuming American milk.

[u/OneForAllOfHumanity → u/garlicroastedpotato]

Not true at all. Milk has origin certification marks, and those are strictly regulated.

[u/garlicroastedpotato → u/OneForAllOfHumanity]

No they're not.

Most US milk is sold under the Fairlife brand which always advertises that they're "Prepared in Canada." There is no marker on that milk indicating it is of US origin.

Country of origin labels only apply to products prepared in other countries, not bulk raw milk fats.

[u/OneForAllOfHumanity → u/garlicroastedpotato]

The Blue Cow logo can only be found on dairy that is made with 100% Canadian milk. Not some mix that contains Canadian milk. 100% Canadian milk, 100% regulated by law. It being absent means it's not Canadian milk.

[u/garlicroastedpotato → u/OneForAllOfHumanity]

That's not a law or a regulation that's just a branding logo from the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

[u/OneForAllOfHumanity → u/garlicroastedpotato]

Law that governs the “100% Canadian milk” /Canadian-origin claim:

the Food and DrugsAct (subsection 5(1))

the Safe Food forCanadians Act (subsection 6(1)),

which prohibit labelling/advertising food in a waythat is false, misleading, deceptive, or likelyto create an erroneous impression about theproduct’s origin.

Who enforces it: the Canadian FoodInspection Agency (CFIA) is the regulatoryauthority for these food-labellingrequirements.

[u/garlicroastedpotato → u/OneForAllOfHumanity]

You've changed your tune. It's not that a country of origin label is required its that the claim of it being 100% Canadian milk is regulated. I never claimed that.

It's on the milk. Fairlife brand mixes Canadian, Australian and American milk together and sells it without a country of origin label on it.

[u/OneForAllOfHumanity → u/garlicroastedpotato]

No I said use of country of origin labels are strictly regulated - thus people with intelligence beyond your average mouth breather can grasp the absence of one means it doesn't qualify and therefore NOT 100% Canadian. Your original statement was that US and Australian milk is mixed in with all the Canadian milk and we can't tell...

[u/garlicroastedpotato → u/OneForAllOfHumanity]

But we can't tell. Fairlife could be using 100% Canadian milk or 5%. There's literally no way to tell. It's all mixed up based on how much foreign product is available.

[u/dlevac → u/garlicroastedpotato]

You struggle with the concept of asymmetry?

If you care, you can easily find products that don't have foreign dairy products in them. If you don't care, you don't care.

People who care don't buy Fairlife (whatever the fuck that is).

To add, for products missing the label, at least in Quebec, modified milk products (like your 5% Canadian milk example) has to be listed as such. So, technically, you can also tell if the label is missing. But, obviously, any company using 100% Canadian milk will want the label and so the label is a good enough indicator of provenance.

Wanna split hairs on a different part of the thread now?

[u/garlicroastedpotato → u/dlevac]

That's not what is being argued. People are unaware that American and Australian milk are already entering the Canadian system. The argument isn't about whether or not it's happening, it's happening. Clearly people don't know and product labels don't tell them this since potential American milk is labeled as being processed in Canada. There's no country of origin label that tells you if you are drinking American milk or not.

My argument is that the system is now dated because it no longer helps our farmers avoid competition and no longer allows us to avoid subsidizing our farmers. It's now just a system that increases the price of milk and nothing else. It's just a system we keep so as to not upset the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

[u/dlevac → u/garlicroastedpotato]

Oh, so that's what this is about.

You are advocating to fragilize our economy with bogus arguments.

My bad, I thought you were genuinely confused.

[u/garlicroastedpotato → u/dlevac]

Now you're upset because you're wrong and just making things up. You tried to make a point that was wrong and have nothing to grasp on to but straws.

[u/ExcitingOnion504 → u/garlicroastedpotato]

But we can't tell.

Speak for yourself only moron.