Over the past two years the Agriculture Working Group has focused on trade with a primary examination of NAFTA and the Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council Action Plan (RCC). The Working Group continues to provide input on cross-border agricultural trade issues to key decision makers in Ottawa and Washington DC.
http://www.pnwer.org/agriculture.htmlListening Session with Under Secretary Bill Northey, Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services , United States Department of Agriculture- Up to ten stakeholders (public & private) will each get up to 3 min to make a statement or recommendation. Followed by remarks by Under Secretary Northey
Round-table Discussion with state Directors and provincial Ministers of Agriculture and private sector leaders from across the region- Topics of discussion will include:
- Trade and NAFTA impacts on the agriculture sector and recommendations for modernization
- The impact of tariffs
- Regulatory Cooperation Issues
- Finding opportunities to collaborate on crop research
Featuring:Hon. Lyle Stewart, Minister of Agriculture, Saskatchewan
Hon. Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture, British Columbia
Celia Gould, Director, Idaho Department of Agriculture
Ben Thomas, Director, Montana Department of Agriculture
Derek Sandison, Director, Washington Department of Agriculture