Illegitimate trade barriers, particularly those imposed against Prince Edward Island potatoes, will be high on the agenda today in Washington, D.C.
Agriculture Minister Mitch Murphy is in the U.S. capital pressing Prince Edward Island's case at a meeting of State Commissioners and Provincial Ministers of Agriculture.
"This meeting affords us the opportunity to express our frustrations with the U.S. border closure in a forum where the Commissioners from potato producing states will have to justify the closure to the Commissioners whose states are net beneficiaries of trade with Canada," said Murphy.
Prince Edward Island will also use the potato wart situation to demonstrate that the NAFTA and WTO dispute settlement procedures are severely lacking and inadequate in dealing with perishable product.
Mr. Murphy said, "Everyone at the meeting deals with perishables. A dispute settlement system that can take from six to 24 months to reach a conclusion is totally inadequate. It is in the interests of provincial ministers and state commissioners to raise this issue and seek redress from their national governments."
The Minister said he will also be raising this issue with Federal Minister, Lyle Vanclief, at a meeting in early March.