Welcome to the circus

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David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @FloryGoncalves and 49 others
I was the first to post a comment and the first to reply to the second guy Now 12 hours later both our comments have gone "POOF" Go Figure

 http://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2018/07/welcome-to-circus.html

Welcome to the circus

#RCMP #CIA #NSA #TrumpRussia #Trudeau #cdnpoli #nbpoli
 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/trade-war-food-security-1.4727012

Warning signs as states revive Depression-era trade tactics: Don Pittis

Food security fears and protectionist subsidies could make economies less efficient for everyone

Don Pittis · CBC News · Posted: Jul 03, 2018 4:00 AM ET 

2075 Comments

Content disabled.

David Amos

Welcome to the circus

Content disabled.

@stefan johnston Methinks folks should have listened to what I said about NAFTA etc in 2004 when I ran in Fundy Royal the first time Now even the new Potash Mine is closed and CBC still denies that I exist N'esy Pas?

Go Figure

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276

 
Joseph Cluster

WE don't dump our produced milk on the ground/fields nor do we have Gov't filled warehouses filled with over supplied cheese as they do down south.
The farmer knows what the product is worth and the QUALITY is governed to the highest levels here.
Just say NO to the US dairy products.

John Oaktree

@Gary Norton

Are you willing to have your taxes increased so that the farmer receives remuneration for providing the dried milk products??

If not, why not?? Don't you think the farmers deserve to be compensated for a product they're supplying??

How much more taxes are you willing to pay for this product??

David Amos

@John Oaktree Survey Says???

Danny Tanker

"Warning signs as states revive Depression-era trade tactics"

There is only one person in the entire world who can carry the entire blame for this mess, the worst President America ever elected, Donald trump.

Michele McLean

@Rob Kov

As a matter of fact, I HAVE watched the US stock market - and so have you, else you wouldn't have fudged it to cover 1.5 years.

Sure, that's when Trump started, but his actions didn't affect the markets right away, and you know it.

Since January 1 of this year though, Trump in full swing, the US markets are up/down and extremely volatile - and they have not grown.

Notice that Trump no longer brags about the DOW?

That's why - the positive Obama effect is over.

John Oaktree

@Rob Kov

Obama did do an excellent job bringing the US economy back from the dismal performance of the Bush years.

It's too bad that Trump is doing his best to destroy all those good results.

David Amos

@John Oaktree Methinks many people would agree that your hero Obama put his country so deep in debt that it quite likely may never recover N'esy Pas?

 
George Abbott

This could be a blessing for Canadians, who wants to eat Tacos from Mexico and Hamburgers from the USA? Buy Alberta prime beef, Pacific and Atlantic salmon and fresh fruits from Okanagan and Annapolis Valley. It is more healthier and promotes "Buy Canadian."

Michele McLean

@Dave Jones

Trade is good - with good partners.

And there's nothing wrong with frozen cherries or pineapple - I eat them year-round.

David Amos

@Michele McLean Methinks I drink my share of coffee and smoke way to many cigarettes and the last time I checked the labels those products I enjoy was not sourced in Canada just like you pineapple However I can get cherries that were grown locally and perhaps some tobacco too N'esy Pas?

Jeff Pollard

Trump's political interests are a global danger and he couldn't care less!

David Amos

@Jeff Pollard "Trump's political interests are a global danger and he couldn't care less!"

Methinks thats the awful truth of it all N'esy Pas?

 
John Sollows

I've said for a long time that little kids need to be helped to realize that they can't always get what they want. A two-year old throws a tantrum and the rest of us let him or her cry it out. The two-year-old becomes a mature person in the process.

The longer this process is delayed, the more destructive the tantrums become. Such collisions with reality are an unavoidable part of growing up as functional members of society.

I am pretty sure that little Donnie never had such a collision with reality, and subsequently, various people have ben sheltering him from same because his tantrums are troubling.

Michele McLean

@John Sollows

I've never wished anyone ill before Trump.

But he causes so much harm, I frankly do wish him ill - as the considerably lesser of two evils.

David Amos

@Michele McLean Methinks you should be careful of what you wish for Many say that Mean Mr Pence waiting in the shadows may be much worse than the "The Donald" ever dreamed of being N'esy Pas?

 
John Reekie

He is America's president but everybody's problem. Putins puppet.

Bill Jones

@John Reekie

Sock puppet?

Mitchell Irwin

@Bill Jones

Putin's sock puppet.

David Amos

@John Reekie Nope

 

Stan Cox

The only good thing I can see coming from this trump experiment - is that he will demonstrate once and for all why government should not be run like a trump business.

Rob Kov

@Wil Brown should it be run like a drama class instead?

#maketrudeauadramateacheragain2019

John Oaktree

@Rob Kov

I think the drama teacher is WAY better than the mailroom clerk...

BTW - what was the mailroom clerk doing in Washington the other day? He quit his job as an MP part way through his term and has nothing to do with politics anymore...

David Amos

@John Oaktree Methinks Harper was awaiting the result of my lawsuit against the Crown before he left public office N'esy Pas?

 

Don Pooley

The system isn't perfect, and leaders have been slow in addressing disparity, but Trump isn't going to fix it. He will end up doing the exact opposite of what he says he wants to do. The rest of the world sees that, let's hope the American people see it too in November.

David Amos

@Don Pooley Methinks you should check the polls the Yankees like Trump the last time I looked but one would be a fool to believe polls like Hillary did N'esy Pas?

 

Shane MacDonald

"...instead of trying to find the cheapest possible food for their people on global markets, countries are conceding that their citizens will have to pay more, leading to worries about food security not seen in decades."

That is not true at all. Canada continues to pursue free trade agreements with every country in the world. The only exception to business as usual is the US-initiated trade war, which has (rightly) led to retaliatory actions. Other than that, Canada continues to seek mutually beneficial trade agreements with countries that negotiate in good faith.

Erika Harrison

@Shane MacDonald Agreed. Unfortunately Don Pitts often spins things in this manner. I generally avoid his articles, and try to stick to news over opinion pieces.

David Amos

@Erika Harrison "Don Pitts often spins things in this manner"

YUP.

 
Joseph Cluster

"Large U.S. agro-industry may suffer from the changes, but smaller, local agriculture can find other kinds of efficiencies, supporting communities and providing healthier, more environmentally friendly food"
Buy local, support the producer, have a 100km footprint. It's not hard to do and actually seeing, and knowing how your food is grown simply is the best.

mia stalling

@Bill Tucker
Have you ever tasted a carrot right out the ground or picked a pea and shucked it on the spot? Try it it may surprise you what fresh vegies really means

David Amos

@mia stalling Methinks most Maritimers have been doing that since we were knee high to a duck You must be from the city to bother to bring such a common thing up as if it is something special to do N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/dual-foods-murray-eu-1.4728480

'They're just cheating us': East Europeans decry 'food apartheid' that leaves them with inferior products

'Dual foods' controversy has embroiled entire EU and will take years to resolve

Don Murray · CBC News · Posted: Jul 03, 2018 4:00 AM ET

293 Comments

  


Ann Murray

It's terrible that these big corporations will do anything to make a buck.

Thomas Perry

@Ann Murray

Sorry Ann Murray, Big Corp. don't care. .....and the political parasite bankster class doesn't care either.

You're on your own so grow your own.

David Amos

@Thomas Perry "You're on your own so grow your own"
Wise words

David Amos

@Ann Murray Welcome to the circus

 
Cara Beaton

This is fraud. It would have been so simple to create another name for this second line of products, but the companies wanted to deceive the customer.
Hope these companies are given hefty fines for this.

Wendy Suiter

@Marek Rudny Trade agreements have nothing to do with it. It already happens here. A huge portion of fish sold - fresh, frozen, canned or packaged - is not what the label says. The problem is more pronounced in inland provinces where people are less likely to be able to tell the difference between salmon and dyed tilapia. The same happens with sausages, processed meats, cereals and virtually everything that is preprepared and packaged.

David Amos

@Wendy Suiter Oh So True

Neil Gregory

Just what I needed!

More reasons to avoid buying stuff produced by large corporations.

More reasons to prepare as much food as possible in my own kitchen from basic ingredients.

David Amos

@Neil Gregory Methinks thou doth protest too much Everybody knows food and questionable corporations has been a hot topic for years. N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/monsanto-to-stop-seeking-gmo-approval-in-europe-1.1369375

Shane MacDonald

Glad I am not Czech. Seems to be the dumping ground for products one step above dog food.

David Amos

@Shane MacDonald Methinks in some countries they eat dogs Now that is truly sad. However when a snobby professor wants to mess with my favourite breakfast food and my favourite meat as well I bet many folks would agree that our tax dollars should not go towards his wages N'esy Pas?

?https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/dog-meat-farm-ethics-1.4449385

 
Jackie Barrett

The same is true with Canadian and American versions of Pepsi and Coca Cola.

For example, the Canadian versions of Coca Cola and Pepsi tastes much sweeter than American counterparts.

The different tastes are due to different formulations as American versions contain high levels of High Fructose Corn Syrup than Canadian counterparts.

Why are Canadian and American versions of Pepsi and Coca Cola different?

That is attributed to more stringent government regulations as well as different formulations.

At the end of the day, since European Union are a supranational alliance, food standards should be the same in all member nations, not mush in one country and great quality in another.

David Amos

@Jackie Barrett "At the end of the day, since European Union are a supranational alliance, food standards should be the same in all member nations, not mush in one country and great quality in another"

I concur/ However what business is it of ours?

Methinks we should capitalize on the problem and offer the folks being abused a good deal on good food N'esy Pas?

  
Gary Johnston

I recall this issue being raised a few years back regarding CAN/US soups. The primary difference was that the Canadian version had more salt, and the manufacturers gave the same lame, "different tastes" excuse.

Michele McLean

@Gary Johnston

You can thank the Harper government for that.

Most developed countries around the world have legislated limits on the amount of salt that can be used in various products, but not Canada.

That's why we still have so much more than even the US.

Salt is a good, cheap preservative. So as long as they're not forced to find a better way - they won't.

David Amos

@Michele McLean Methinks a salty old Maritimer should ask what is life without salt to enjoy N'esy Pas?

  
Irv Millar

Another plus for supply management. When multinationals are allowed any discretion, in terms of profiting, they will. Maybe even to go so far as price fixing bread. Wait, that was done with no discernable penalty.

David Amos

@Irv Millar Methinks many a true word is said in jest N'esy Pas?

  
Wendy Suiter

It happens here as well and not just with packaged foods. Most of the fish you buy in Ontario is mislabeled so when you think you are paying for salmon you are getting something cheaper. https://www.cbc.ca/news/mislabelling-means-rare-fish-sold-marketplace-1.919822

Also, sausages aren't made of what the label says either. Companies don't care about their customers, just their money.

David Amos

@Wendy Suiter At the risk of being redundant methinks I should agree with once again N'esy Pas?

 
Manny Fredrick

Cant find anywhere in this article that the products cost the same in each country. Could it be that you actually get what you pay for? Maybe if you want pork, go buy some pork and not luncheon meat.

Tom Andersen

@Manny Fredrick Agreed. The EU is the ultimate nanny state. I would estimate that a package of spaghetti in eastern Europe costs 1/2 to 2/3 of the same product in France. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

David Amos

@Tom Andersen Hard telling not knowing for sure but when I visited France I thought things were quite expensive. Methinks this is none of our business particularly in light of the fact that folks in New Brunswick can't buy the beer in Quebec even when its the exactly same product merely because it is cheaper no thanks to our politically appointed Supreme Court N'esy Pas?

 
Jim Palmer

"It’s called 'dual food': when the same brand in a different country is actually a different (and in some cases inferior) formulation. The food industry says there are legitimate reasons the formulation is different in different places"

I am certain that for the 'food industry' there are "legitimate reasons" for "dual food"; I bet that the major 'legitimate reason' is increased profit.

David Amos

@Jim Palmer "I am certain that for the 'food industry' there are "legitimate reasons" for "dual food"; I bet that the major 'legitimate reason' is increased profit"

Of course it is Methinks there could be no other reason N'esy Pas?

Warning signs as states revive Depression-era trade tactics: Don Pittis

Food security fears and protectionist subsidies could make economies less efficient for everyone

Don Pittis · CBC News · Posted: Jul 03, 2018 4:00 AM ET 

On Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Canada's response in its escalating trade tiff with the U.S. (Peter Power/Canadian Press)

Following a week filled with threats and counter-threats, there are ominous signs that a long era of free trade may be coming to an abrupt end.

In a transition that would have seemed astonishing only a few years ago, national strategies based on the advantages of open borders are being replaced by tactics not seen for decades.

Suddenly, countries are looking inward instead of outward. And it's contagious.

Self-destructive

Rather than seeking global or regional efficiency, countries such as Canada are imposing protectionist measures to save their own domestic industries from the damaging effects of foreign protectionism, particularly from the Trump administration in the U.S.

• Heinz scrambles for Canadian love after its ketchup takes another hit in tariff war

• A trade war is a political act of economic destruction: Don Pittis

For example, instead of trying to find the cheapest possible food for their people on global markets, countries are conceding that their citizens will have to pay more, leading to worries about food security not seen in decades.

For those schooled in the logic of free trade, including internationally respected trade economist Daniel Trefler, the whole process is nothing but self-destructive.

As China has become wealthier, people there have been eating more meat. This requires the import of feed from the U.S, but that might change as a result of

 China's tariff battle with the Trump administration. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

"Everything that we're talking about with the Trump initiative is things that reduce our competitiveness vis-a-vis the rest of the world," says Trefler, a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management who advises the Canadian government on investment and trade policy.
"All of this is not only going to make Canada and Mexico worse off, it's going to make the United States worse off as well."

Striking back where it hurts

And while he understands the damaging effect of escalating trade barriers, Trefler says if the U.S. were to seriously hurt the Canadian economy with, say, a 25 per cent duty on cars and car parts, Canada would have to strike back in a way that hurts the U.S.

And he says that should include ending U.S. patent protection in this country on things such as pharmaceuticals.

• Analysis
  Both sides up the stakes as threat of full-blown China-U.S. trade war grows: Don Pittis

When some of our strongest free trade advocates start taking positions like that it reminds you how far we have come from a few years ago when everyone, including Canada, the U.S. and China, were looking to benefit from the advantages of more open borders.

Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soybeans, but it can't entirely replace the supply China imports from the U.S. (Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)

Now, those countries are taking punitive actions against each other that seem to fly in the face of their own self-interest. And one of the most important areas is food. And one of the most seriously affected could be China.

"Food security is a major issue for the Chinese," says Trefler, "so anything that destroys food security, they are going to make it a priority to find a solution, and as you know, when the Chinese have a priority to find a solution, they are pretty good at finding it."

Losing trust

Jennifer Clapp, a specialist in global economics and agriculture, and author of Speculative Harvests, says a return to fears about food security harks back to the Great Depression.

The fact is, before the World Trade Organization era began in 1995, many countries, including China, rejected free trade in food for national security reasons.

"But since the mid-1990s, we've seen a liberalization of agricultural trade that's almost become like a religion," says Clapp, Canada Research Chair in global food security and sustainability at the University of Waterloo.

The theory was free trade in food and agriculture was more efficient, allowing the world to produce more food and feed more people. And food-producing countries, including the U.S., benefited from that change.

"But what is often not said is that the economic rationale for free trade in food and agriculture is based on an implicit assumption of political stability and predictability in terms of the actions of one's trading partners," she says. In the Trump era, she says, predictability is no longer assured.

U.S. President Donald Trump's policies have turned the clock back on global trade. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

As some U.S. trade partners buy less food, the U.S. has revived the Commodity Credit Corporation, created in 1933 to protect U.S. farmers from global competition and the Depression's collapse of market prices.

As China cuts back on U.S. soybeans — used mostly as feed for livestock to produce meat — it, too, must adjust to a new reality. Even increasing purchases from the world's biggest producer, Brazil, cannot replace the huge volumes China purchased from the U.S.

One solution would be to buy more meat from places like Canada instead of growing it at home. But Clapp says China has also begun a campaign to encourage people to eat 50 per cent less meat, ostensibly for health and environmental reasons.

Wounds inflicted

Closer to home, the newly elected president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has advocated food self-sufficiency for his country.

Altering supply chains to avoid tariffs adds to costs, and the longer trade barriers stay in place, the more unlikely trade patterns will go back to the way they were before. Wounds inflicted on trade partners could take years to heal.

• Trump tariffs could tip Canada into recession, trade committee told

But the current global trade chaos may not be about efficiency in its traditional form. Instead, it may be about a realignment of world power, a perhaps not-fully-rational loathing for the way things are now.

And Clapp says the results may not be all bad, in agriculture at least. Large U.S. agro-industry may suffer from the changes, but smaller, local agriculture can find other kinds of efficiencies, supporting communities and providing healthier, more environmentally friendly food, she says.

"The broader benefits are not just about money."

Follow Don on Twitter @don_pittis

About the Author

 

Don Pittis

Business columnist

Don Pittis was a forest firefighter, and a ranger in Canada's High Arctic islands. After moving into journalism, he was principal business reporter for Radio Television Hong Kong before the handover to China. He has produced and reported for the CBC in Saskatchewan and Toronto and the BBC in London. He is currently senior producer at CBC's business unit.

'They're just cheating us': East Europeans decry 'food apartheid' that leaves them with inferior products

'Dual foods' controversy has embroiled entire EU and will take years to resolve

Don Murray · CBC News · Posted: Jul 03, 2018 4:00 AM ET

Vera Jourova, EU commissioner in charge of justice, consumers and gender equality, presents 'A New Deal for Consumers' in Brussels, April 11. No more cheating on food content … someday. (Olivier Hoslet/EPA-EFE)

Sometimes, when you move from one country to another, things look, even taste, different.
That was Ilya Kunes's experience when he moved back to the Czech Republic from France. Things definitely tasted different.

Even the same famous brand of Italian spaghetti he had bought in France. That seemed odd. He checked. His Czech-bought spaghetti contained a far smaller percentage of expensive Durum wheat than the French variety.

When Kunes, who had lived for years in France, cooked his Czech-bought noodles, he found himself eating not spaghetti "al dente" but a gluey mush.

Welcome, Ilya, to the world of "dual food" colonialism.

Officially, it didn't exist. Companies and big supermarket chains with outlets in the east and the west of Europe have denied any double dealing. But consumers and governments in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Bulgaria have long been adamant that something was wrong.

• Creating the perfect noodle: U of M researchers discover microscopic bubbles in dough

They were proved right, thanks largely to tests by laboratories in their own countries.

"The companies claim that people in the east have different tastes," Kunes said. "That's ridiculous. They're just cheating us, and making an extra profit on cheaper food."

Tulip luncheon meat reportedly contained pork in Germany but only fat and scraps of chicken in the Czech Republic. (Tulip Food Co.)

He's certainly right about companies insisting they're only responding to local tastes.

Spar, an international network of supermarkets founded in the Netherlands, defended its own-brand strawberry yogurt in Slovenia, which has 40 per cent less strawberry than the Austrian version. It claims it is merely producing what the Slovenians want.

Consumer authorities will finally get teeth to punish the cheaters. It cannot be cheap to cheat- EU Commissioner Vera Jourova

That pales in comparison with a German supermarket pizza sold with an Edam and mozzarella cheese topping in Germany and something concocted from vegetable oil next door in the Czech Republic.

It was the same with Tulip luncheon meat. It contained pork in Germany but only fat and scraps of chicken in the Czech Republic.

"In this case, I don't think you can really argue about taste or preferences," said Ales Chmelar, the Czech secretary of state for EU affairs.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, left, has likened dual food to apartheid. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agrees: 'Slovaks do not deserve less fish in their fish fingers.' (Stephanie Lecocq/EPA-EFE)

Tests in a Prague laboratory of 21 products showed only seven sold in Germany and Austria were the same as in their eastern neighbours.

European politicians, after years of ignoring the issue, have suddenly become the eastern consumers' friends. The tide was clearly turning when the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, in May 2017, likened the practice to food apartheid.

"Maybe this is a remnant of apartheid — for some, food should be of higher quality, and for others, in Eastern Europe, of lower quality," Borissov said.

Then the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, jumped on the bandwagon. In cadences echoing those of Abraham Lincoln, he proclaimed in his "state of the union" address on Sept. 13, 2017: "Slovaks do not deserve less fish in their fish fingers, Hungarians less meat in their meals, Czechs less cacao in their chocolate."

• Vegan nut cheese business ordered to stop using word 'cheese'

The industry response the next day to Juncker was to suggest the problem was exaggerated, and besides, the differences weren't limited to east and west.

"The composition of products may sometimes be slightly different between countries for various reasons, but this does not necessarily imply 'dual' or 'inferior' quality between east and west European markets," said Florence Ranson, of FoodDrinkEurope, the industry's lobby group in Brussels.

"For example, differences in composition can also be found between the U.K. and France, or between Italy and Sweden."

The battle remained one of words until Vera Jourova, the EU's commissioner for justice and consumer rights, pushed through a declaration that the EU would insist on equal standards for the same brands across Europe.

Jourova is from the Czech Republic.

• It's 'quite amazing' Wallonia's farmers are complaining, Canadian industry says

"In a globalized world where the big companies have a huge advantage over individual consumers, we need to level the odds," Jourova said, announcing the new policy on April 11.

"Consumer authorities will finally get teeth to punish the cheaters. It cannot be cheap to cheat."
But the EU is a lumbering bureaucratic centipede when it comes to such matters. Change will come in many slow steps.

You can say it is slow. But the legislation must be of high quality and above all enforceable.- Michaela Sojdrova, EU member

In May, the European Commission offered member states a methodology for testing multinational brands to provide proof and expose "dual food" culprits.

The next six months will be taken up with doing those tests on an experimental basis to check their accuracy. The next step will be for the European Parliament to debate the European Commission's "directive on unfair commercial practices."

• 'It's not easy. We need a shift in our mindset': Study says reform best-before labels to reduce food waste

Then the relevant ministers from each EU country must be consulted.

And finally, each country must pass legislation in line with the directive to give it teeth.
One Czech member of the European Parliament, Michaela Sojdrova, estimates the new dawn of equal food won't come until the beginning of 2020.

"You can say it is slow," she said. "But the legislation must be of high quality and above all enforceable."

Of course. Seen that way, what's a year or two more before the end of "food apartheid"?

Meanwhile, to avoid eating gluey mush, Ilya Kunes will have to stock up on his favourite Italian pasta in Paris. It could be a couple of years before the Durum wheat count reaches the same level in Prague.

About the Author

Don Murray

Eye on Europe

A well-travelled former CBC reporter and documentary maker, Don Murray is a freelance writer and translator based in London and Paris.