Research publications

Contents

• 1  Introduction
• 2  The Origins of Supply Management
• 3  Regulatory Framework and The Pillars of Supply Management
  • 3.1  Production Control
    • 3.1.1  Quotas
      • 3.1.1.1  Number of Quota Holders and Quota Value
      • 3.1.1.2  Quota Price
  • 3.2  Pricing Mechanisms
  • 3.3  Import Control
• 4  Supply Management and International Agreements
• Appendix A – Production under Supply Management in Canada, 2017
• Notes

1  Introduction

In Canada, supply management is a way for farmers – and more specifically, those who produce milk, chickens and eggs – to control, through a marketing system, the supply or quantity of their commercial products. In order to market their products, producers must hold a permit, commonly known as “quota,” without which they would not be able to sell their products to a processing plant.

This paper presents the origins of supply management in Canada, the regulatory framework in which it operates and its three pillars: production control, pricing mechanisms and import control. It also briefly discusses the concerns raised about certain recent international agreements.

2  The Origins of Supply Management

In theory, in a perfectly competitive market, equilibrium is achieved when the quantity of goods supplied by sellers equals the quantity demanded by buyers.1 This equilibrium point determines the quantity and price of these goods.

• If the price is lower than the equilibrium price and the equilibrium price is very low, demand for a product exceeds supply. This may result in a shortage, since buyers will be apt to want to buy more of the goods. This tends to lead to rising prices.
• Conversely, when the price is higher than the equilibrium price, supply exceeds demand, resulting in a glut and falling prices.2

During the 1960s, price instability and interprovincial trade disputes were a source of major concern for the poultry, egg and dairy industries.3 At that time, the Canadian agricultural sector experienced overproduction caused by technological advances, resulting in low, unstable prices and disputes between farmers and processors.4

Faced with this difficult economic situation, farmers sought to strengthen their bargaining power by asking their provincial governments to create marketing boards. It was this situation – price instability and fluctuations in farmers’ incomes – that led to the creation of the supply management system.

The national supply management system coordinates production and demand while controlling imports as a means of setting stable prices for both farmers and consumers. In Canada, supply management encompasses five types of products: dairy, chicken and turkey products, table eggs and broiler hatching eggs.

3  Regulatory Framework and The Pillars of Supply Management

In 1972, the Farm Products Agencies Act5 created the national agencies authorized to establish supply management. The national egg, turkey and chicken marketing agencies were created in 1972, 1974 and 1978, respectively, to administer the supply management system for these farm products. The Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee, chaired by the Canadian Dairy Commission, a Crown corporation created in 1966,6 is responsible for the administration of supply management for the dairy industry.7

The Farm Products Agencies Act also established the National Farm Products Marketing Council, which became the Farm Products Council of Canada8 in 2009. This federal body oversees the various agencies to promote an efficient and competitive agricultural sector while ensuring that the marketing system operates well, in the interests of producers and consumers.9

To be effective, the national supply management system must follow the three basic rules or pillars:

• production control;
• pricing mechanisms; and
• import control.

3.1  Production Control

To prevent surpluses and shortages that can cause significant price fluctuations, the national agency representing each industry is responsible for setting the national production level based on provincial demand. The Farm Products Agencies Act authorizes each national agency to restrict production and set production quotas for each province. Each national agency may also impose penalties for overproduction or underproduction.

The provincial boards are responsible for allocating production among farmers, who undertake to produce within their allotted quota and pay any penalties for failing to do so. The boards are also responsible for negotiating prices with buyers. Lastly, they set minimum quotas and quota transfer rules.

3.1.1  Quotas

To operate quota-controlled farms, farmers must hold quota, a kind of permit authorizing them to produce a given volume.

The provincial marketing boards also set minimum quotas. Currently, under Ontario’s supply management system, a farmer-member must have at least 14,000 units of chicken production (one unit corresponds to 13 kilograms [kg] of chicken), which is equivalent to 182,000 kg of chicken production per year.10

Quota sales vary by industry. In the dairy industry, sales are negotiated not in terms of litres of milk, but in terms of daily kilograms of butterfat produced, the equivalent of one cow’s production,11 whereas in the poultry industry, quota is sold by units produced or square metres of floor space. For example, in Manitoba, one production unit is equivalent to the production of one chicken. In Quebec, one square metre of chicken production is equivalent to the production of 7 to 10 birds.

The supply management system does not apply to hobby farmers operating small farms and producing for personal consumption. Each provincial commodity board maintains its own exemption criteria. Quota-exempt dairy production is generally permitted as long as it is for personal consumption. For example, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and British Columbia permit dairy farming without requiring production quota.12 Although Alberta also permits dairy farming for personal consumption, it imposes a limit of 50 litres per day.13

As regards poultry production, Ontario allows up to 300 broilers, 50 turkeys and 99 laying hens to be raised without requiring production quotas.14 Table 1 presents quota-exempt poultry production, by province.

3.1.1.1  Number of Quota Holders and Quota Value

In 2017, cash receipts for the supply-managed sector accounted for slightly more than 17% of cash receipts for Canada’s entire agricultural sector. There were 15,388 quota holders in Canada, mostly in the dairy industry (see the map shown in the appendix). Most of the quota holders are in Quebec and Ontario.

Farmers initially received quota free of charge. However, quotas acquired market value, which has risen considerably over the years. For example, milk quota in Manitoba was selling for $27,640/kg in October 2018, compared to $12,000 in December 1998, an increase of over 100%.15 Across the country, the estimated total quota value was $36.9 billion in 2017, compared to $14.7 billion in 1998 (see Table 2).

The quota exchange value varies by province. For example, in October 2018, quota for 1 kg of butterfat per day sold for $38,500 in British Columbia and $24,000 in New Brunswick.16

3.1.1.2  Quota Price

Quota is a major asset for quota-controlled businesses. For example, for a Quebec dairy farm with an average of 64 cows in 2017,17 quota alone represented an investment of over $1.5 million.18 This does not include investments in other assets, such as livestock, land, buildings and machinery.

Given the steep rise in milk quota prices and fears about excessive debt, the five provinces participating in the Agreement on Eastern Canadian Milk Pooling19 (Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario) established a quota pricing mechanism policy in December 2008.20 In 2010, Quebec and Ontario capped the quota price at $25,000 per kg of butterfat produced.21 In February 2016, Quebec lowered this cap for the transfer of dairy quota from $25,000 to $24,000 per kg of butterfat produced.22

Other production sectors have also capped quota prices. Quebec has capped the quota price at $500 per square metre for turkey23 and at $245 per unit for laying hens.24

3.2  Pricing Mechanisms

In addition to production control, supply-managed farmers are guaranteed a minimum price for their products. Through their provincial marketing boards, farmers collectively negotiate minimum farm-gate prices with processors. This minimum price is based on production costs and market conditions, such as consumer demand, inventory available on the market and the price of competing products.25

Supply management gives farmers a fair price that reflects production costs while preventing significant price fluctuations for consumers. However, not everyone agrees on its benefits:

• Studies by MEI (Montreal Economic Institute),26 the Fraser Institute27 and the Conference Board of Canada28 argue that supply management is expensive for consumers. Critics say that supply-managed products cost less in the United States.
• In 2014, a Nielsen Company study commissioned by the Dairy Farmers of Canada showed that the price of Canadian products compared favourably with prices in other countries.29
• A University of Waterloo researcher found that supply management benefits all Canadians.30

3.3  Import Control

In addition to relying heavily on production control and pricing mechanisms, the supply management system also relies on import control to function properly.

In accordance with various trade agreements, Canada restricts imports by setting tariff rate quotas. This means that it grants its trading partners a “minimum level of access” to imports and imposes a high customs tariff on imports beyond a certain amount to prevent foreign products from flooding the Canadian market.

For example, the import quota for yogurt is currently set at 332,000 kg,31 and for chicken, it is 39,900,000 kg or 7.5% of domestic production,32 whichever is greater. Imports within these quotas are not subject to customs tariffs or, if they are, the tariffs are low. However, high tariffs – as high as 300% in the case of butter – are imposed on over‑quota imports (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 – Customs Tariffs on Selected Over-Quota Products, 2018

Show Text Version

Figure 1 is a bar graph showing Canada’s customs tariffs in 2018 on six over-quota products, expressed as percentages. The products shown are butter, cheese, yogurt, chicken, eggs and turkey, with each of the products represented by a vertical bar on the graph. Over-quota tariffs range from a high of around 300% for butter, to a low of around 150% for turkey. Cheese, yogurt and chicken come in second, third and fourth place, respectively, with over-quota tariffs approaching 250%. The fifth bar shows the over-quota tariff for eggs, at around 160%.

Source: Canada Border Services Agency, Departmental Consolidation of the Customs Tariff 2018  (4.3 mB, 1,549 pages).

4  Supply Management and International Agreements

Canada has always been able to protect the supply management system when concluding a number of trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as well as bilateral trade agreements.

However, recent international trade agreements concluded by Canada – the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans–Pacific Partnership (CPTPP),33 the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA),34 and the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA),35 are cause for concern for supply-managed industries.

Under the CETA, Canada will grant access to roughly 17,700 tonnes of cheese from the European Union.36 As for the countries in the CPTPP (this progressive agreement followed the United States’ withdrawal from the Trans‑Pacific Partnership on 30 January 2017), they will have phased‑in limited access to the market for supply‑managed products.37

Under the CUSMA, Canada will grant the United States increased access to supply‑managed products in Canada. Canada will also increase its dairy import quotas by 500% in the sixth year after the Agreement comes into force, and then provide a 1% annual incremental increase thereafter until the 19^th year.38 In addition, the CUSMA provides for the elimination of prices associated with milk classes 6 and 7.39 In the poultry sector, the chicken quota will increase from 47,000 tonnes to 57,000 tonnes in the sixth year, while the table egg quota will increase from 1.67 million dozen eggs to 10 million dozen eggs for the same period, after which these quotas will increase by 1% annually for the following 10 years. Canada will also provide the United States with annual market access, which will represent at least 3.5% of its annual turkey production and at least 21.1% of its annual broiler hatching egg production.40

A number of supply management stakeholders fear that these agreements will open a crack in this marketing system and weaken one of the pillars of supply management in Canada.

Appendix A – Production under Supply Management in Canada, 2017

Figure A.1 – Production Under Supply Management in Canada, 2017

Show Text Version

This figure shows a map of the Canadian provinces and territories that illustrates cash receipts generated in 2017 from supply-managed agricultural products, which are presented as a percentage of the total agricultural receipts for each province. The total number of producers under supply management in each province is represented by proportionately sized pie charts. Each pie chart depicts the four supply-managed sectors (dairy, eggs, chicken and turkey) as a proportion of the total number of producers under supply management in each province. No cash receipt data was obtained for this figure from the territories, although the Northwest Territories do maintain some egg farms. While Newfoundland and Labrador contains the fewest number of farms (fewer than 500), that province exhibits the largest share of receipts generated from supply-managed farms (greater than 40%). Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the provinces with the lowest percentage of cash receipts for supply-managed products (10% or less of total agricultural revenue) and fewer than 1,000 farms each. In contrast, Ontario and Quebec are home to a much greater number of producers in the supply-managed sector (between 5,000 and 6,500 each), but these only represent a 20% to 40% share of total cash receipts. In Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, most supply-managed producers are in the dairy sector, whereas producers in the western provinces appear more evenly distributed between poultry and dairy products.

Source: Figure prepared by the Library of Parliament, using data obtained from Government of Canada, Natural Resources Canada [NRCan], “Administrative features,” Administrative boundaries in Canada – CanVec Series, 2018; Government of Canada, NRCan, “Hydrographic features,” Lakes, rivers and glaciers in Canada – CanVec Series, 2018; Statistics Canada, “Farm cash receipts, annual (x 1,000),” Table 32‑10‑0045‑01 (database), accessed 7 November 2018; Chicken Farmers of Canada, Chicken Data Booklet 2018  (1.0 MB, 36 pages); Canadian Dairy Information Centre, “Table D056: Number of Farms with Shipments of Milk by Province,” Dairy Facts and Figures (database), accessed 7 November 2018; and Turkey Farmers of Canada, Canada’s turkey industry: By the numbers; and Egg Farmers of Canada, Annual Report 2017  (3.0 MB, 66 pages). The following software was used: Esri, ArcGIS, version 10.4. Contains information licensed under Open Government Licence – Canada and Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notes

†  Library of Parliament Background Papers provide in-depth studies of policy issues. They feature historical background, current information and references, and many anticipate the emergence of the issues they examine. They are prepared by the Parliamentary Information and Research Service, which carries out research for and provides information and analysis to parliamentarians and Senate and House of Commons committees and parliamentary associations in an objective, impartial manner.  [ Return to text ]