Traps dispute dampens Union-Canada celebrations

Date: 19/06/1997

NOT to be left out of the EU summit season, Canada's re-elected leader Jean Chrétien will meet Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok and European Commission President Jacques Santer in the margins of this weekend's G7 gathering in Denver.

Although more of a fleeting encounter than a summit, the occasion will allow both sides to celebrate the six-month anniversary of the launch of the EU-Canada 'action plan' - although the meeting tomorrow (20 June) may be marred by a dispute within the Union over animal trapping standards.

Overall, the Union and Canada are getting on well at the moment, with the days of fish wars and other such arguments receding into the past.

“We are very pleased with the solid progress we have made over a broad range of economic, commercial and political matters,” said an Ottawa spokesman this week.

To illustrate such claims, leaders will herald (though not sign) a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on telecoms, medical devices and pharmaceuticals covering goods worth about 8 billion ecu, one- third of EU-Canadian trade.

Unlike the MRA talks between the EU and the United States, the deal was negotiated with relatively little fuss, according to officials, with the Canadian Standards Association showing none of its American counterpart's rancour.

“In some ways we think we have a better and more comprehensive deal with Canada than the US,” said a Commission source.

Kok and Chrétien will also announce improved cooperation between customs authorities, and welcome the near-completion of agreements on veterinary equivalency and competition.

Finally, they will talk about future agreements on wine, control of drug precursors and nuclear research, and swap notes on US legislation aimed against investment in Cuba.

Amidst all these pleasantries, however, a dark shadow will be lurking, as Union environment ministers meet today and tomorrow (19-20 June) to discuss an EU-Canada deal on leghold traps which has been initialled by negotiators, but continues to provoke intense debate between Union member states.

The Commission and Canada have agreed in principle to establish 'humane' standards for the use of wild-animal traps, removing the threat of a total EU ban on fur imports from Canada.

But British and Austrian opposition to the agreement, alongside growing reticence from Germany, Sweden and Italy, means that it will go to a vote at this week's meeting, with the result too close to call.

Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan, who will be in Denver, is reportedly concerned that he will not be in Luxembourg to sell the deal to national governments, especially as Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard is not in favour of it.

Although the chances are that there will be no EU decision by the time Chrétien and Kok meet, a Commission official said that it went “without saying that the atmosphere of the meeting may be strongly influenced by the Council decision on the leghold trap question”.

Should environment ministers approve the deal, the EU and Canada could proclaim a great victory. But if it falls through, the symbolism of a dispute at the World Trade Organisation arising on the day of the summit would be hard to ignore.

Without a decision, however, it is likely that the fireworks will be saved for a meeting of foreign ministers on the margins of next month's NATO summit in Madrid.

Leaders will, in the meantime, content themselves with the altogether less controversial announcement of an EU-Canada 'joint trade study', to “examine ways of facilitating trade in goods and services and further reducing or eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers”.

The study will involve exchanging a wish list of improvements by the end of September, ranking trade barriers in order of economic significance, and eventually suggesting ways to change things.

There is also talk of giving private industry a bigger say in the evolution of these talks, along similar lines to the EU-US Transatlantic Business Dialogue.

By way of balance to what is essentially a trade summit, Kok and Chrétien are also likely to remind observers of a new strength in their political relations, including invigorated consultation in areas such as United Nations reform, the non-proliferation of weapons and human rights.