June 17, 1994

Honourable Ralph Goodale
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Goodale,

The NFU is greatly concerned about illegal shipments of wheat and barley to the U.S. The 366,700 tonne discrepancy between Canadian and U.S. figures for the first 8 months of the crop year or 16% of total exports is cause for great alarm.

At a time when there is tremendous political sensitivity by American farmers and politicians over Canadian wheat and barley moving into the U.S., it is intolerable to have this kind of illegal movement.  This illegal movement is provoking an American reaction that may effectively limit or close the U.S. market for Canadian wheat and barley to the detriment of all Canadian grain producers.  This is a clear violation of the Canadian Wheat Board Act and the Canada Grain Act.

This large volume of grain has many detrimental effects on the Canadian Wheat Board such as lowering the overall pool accounts, destroying the concept and effectiveness of single desk selling and undermining the CWB's ability to manage and allocate the supply.  This uncontrolled movement also poses a threat to the Canadian Grain Commission's ability to maintain Canada's advantage in exporting a high-quality uniform product.  If the regulations are not enforced in one market, there is a real threat to all markets.

The regulatory review, the trade deals with the expectation of unrestricted flow of goods between Canada and the U.S., the price differential on grain between Canada and the U.S. caused by the U.S. EEP and federal government cost-cutting with reduced and less effective border inspection, have all contributed to this very serious situation.  The above were all initiatives of the previous government that have been continued under your administration.

This blatant and criminal flaunting of Canadian law and regulation is damaging political and economic relations with the U.S. at a time when relations are already strained and this illegal activity must be stopped.  Sufficient and effective procedures must be implemented at all border crossings to monitor and control the flow of grain crossing the border and personnel must be in place to apply these procedures.  We must have capacity on the Canadian side to be in control of this movement and apply Canadian law and not by relying on American customs to inform us of the statistics on Canadian Grain crossing the border.

The NFU expects an early reply and immediate enforcement of the law and corrective action.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur W. Macklin,
President

AWM/dn