The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in an email on April 8 that new admissibility requirements for commodities originating from Greece have been set up in CFIA’s Automated Import Reference System (AIRS).

WHY IT MATTERS: Data from Greece’s tourism industry show over 300,000 arrivals in that country from Canada in 2024 alone.

According to the World Organization for Animal Health, Greece began reporting cases of foot-and-mouth disease on March 15 with nine infected cattle at a farm on the island of Lesvos, marking the country’s first such cases since 1994. Its most recent cases, in sheep and one cow on the same island, were reported March 29.

Greece’s cases so far have all occurred on farms in the northern regions of that island, in the Aegean Sea off the west coast of Turkey. So far, 438 animals in total have been confirmed infected.

The findings make Greece the fifth European Union member country currently under foot-and-mouth restrictions from Canada. Hungary, Slovakia and Cyprus all reported cases last year, while Bulgaria is the lone EU member country “not usually considered free” of foot-and-mouth disease.

Germany regained disease-free status last month, while CFIA’s restrictions on Austria were lifted last September.

While findings of the disease in Greece are so far limited to Lesvos, Canada’s new restrictions apply to the entire country, unlike certain other nations such as Brazil, Argentina and Peru in which CFIA classifies some but not all provinces or states as free of foot-and-mouth disease.

What products are prohibited?

At-risk commodities covered by Canada’s import ban include live animals and germplasm; animal products and byproducts; uncooked meat and meat products; raw milk and milk products made from raw milk, such as unpasteurized cheese; unprocessed manure; laboratory material; blood products; livestock feed and equipment that has been in contact with affected animals; raw or unprocessed pet foods; raw hides, skins, wool, antlers, horns, hooves; and any other non-heat-treated products or byproducts from vulnerable animal species.

Species vulnerable to foot-and-mouth disease include hogs, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, camelids (llamas, alpacas) and cervids (deer, elk, moose) among others.

CFIA’s restrictions apply to any at-risk products dating as far back as 28 days before the first symptoms were detected in an affected country.

Foot-and-mouth disease, according to CFIA, is a viral disease characterized by symptoms including blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats and between the hooves; foot lesions, accompanied by acute lameness and reluctance to move; and loss of appetite or milk production. The virus can spread between animals through direct, indirect or airborne transmission.

Canada is free of the disease and has not reported any cases of the disease in livestock since 1952, when an outbreak in southeastern Saskatchewan is believed to have originated with a visitor from an infected farm in Germany, carrying the virus either on clothes or an infected sausage.

Advice for farmers visiting Greece

Canadians are still free to travel to Greece, but CFIA recommends they avoid visiting farms when doing so. Travellers who do visit farms should make sure clothes and footwear worn during those visits are free from soil or manure. Footwear should be cleaned and disinfected, and dry-cleaning of the clothes worn is recommended.

Travellers should also avoid contact with susceptible animals, including farm and zoo animals and wildlife, for 14 days after returning to Canada.

For farmers who travel to Greece, contact with farm animals is not recommended for five days upon return to Canada, when “strict personal decontamination measures” are applied to clothes and footwear, CFIA says.

Travellers also must declare all food products upon arrival in Canada. Generally, CFIA says, meat and dairy products from foot-and-mouth infected countries won’t be allowed, but foods that are “cooked, shelf-stable, commercially prepared and hermetically sealed” may be.

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The Americans’ real anger is that they didn’t negotiate well regarding tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for new access to the Canadian dairy market during the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), said Andrea van Vugt, with Wellington Advisory, which advises Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

That means there’s likely room to negotiate on dairy with the U.S.

WHY IT MATTERS: The loss of supply management would have a significant impact on rural communities, particularly in Ontario and Quebec.

“I think the easy win is on TRQ administration,” said Stephen de Boer, who is on Wellington Advisory’s strategic advisory board and was previously part of the federal government advising on areas like defence. He also served as an ambassador, including to the World Trade Organization.

De Boer and van Vugt were part of a discussion at the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s 2026 annual meeting in Toronto, held Jan. 13-15.

There’s a route to allowing the Americans a new way to administer TRQs, “and call it a day”, said de Boer.

When Canada negotiated its most recent trade agreements, including CUSMA and the Comprehensive Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), it did not spell out how we would administer the TRQs, and that allowed Canada to give the TRQs to Canadian processors, not directly to retailers.

New Zealand also didn’t like that this method of TRQ allocation was the same in the CPTPP.

“It’s not what they expected, but it is what we negotiated,” said de Boer.

Van Vugt and de Boer also agreed that the negotiations would likely mean more access to the Canadian market for American products.

However, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of appetite for eliminating supply management for poultry and dairy.

“When I’ve talked to U.S. officials, and when I say U.S. officials, I mean certain U.S. officials who may live in Canada, representing U.S. interests in Canada,” they are concerned about the U.S. dairy sector facing competition from Canadian farmers, because they know that will happen, said van Vugt.

That doesn’t mean that Trump couldn’t make a larger, unexpected request, she said, as that’s in character for Trump, and he has prioritized dairy as an irritant.

De Boer said the Americans also understand that they use some supply management techniques to manage dairy production, too.

He added he expects chicken negotiations not to be arduous. “Our negotiators are excellent, particularly in negotiating in this space.”

Why the CUSMA review is toothless

The inclusion of a review clause in the CUSMA agreement was a step up from the previous North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) because there was no such clause.

However, the clause has little power, said van Vugt.

“The review clause really is just, we’re going to get together, we’re going to talk if we disagree about things, we’re going to get together again in a few years and talk again. That’s it,” she said.

The review clause has become the “pointy end of a stick” that Trump is using, said de Boer, and it could lead to greater pressure tactics like the Americans threatening to leave the agreement.

He said he expects at minimum that CUSMA countries will be into yearly reviews, until renegotiation.

Trump operates by trying to gain leverage in anything he does, so it makes sense he will try the same game around CUSMA.

“I understand why he’s doing it, but I don’t think he has as much leverage as he thinks he has,” said de Boer, adding that Trump could take many actions, including adding new tariffs or blocking the border to access to some Canadian products.

Negotiators still to be determined

Van Vugt and de Boer both expressed their dismay that Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the United States and a skilled trade negotiator, has resigned her role. New negotiators in the federal government are being vetted and should be revealed soon. Van Vugt said it won’t be the new ambassador to the U.S. Mark Wiseman. Ambassadors usually don’t negotiate trade deals.

Van Vugt called Hillman “an incredible representative of Canada” and “an incredible advocate with incredible knowledge of the supply management industry.”

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The first 15 are already out. From tariff tensions to invasive wild pigs to weather, here’s a taste of what farmers wanted to read most over the last year:

No. 25 — Port of Churchill searches for year-round trade: In November, KAP hosted Arctic Gateway Group’s CEO to talk future plans for Manitoba’s northern port. Part of the big expansion planned is a goal to keeping the ice open, and trade flowing, all year long.

No. 24 — Weather school: It’s all about the clouds: Do you know your cumulus from your nimbostratus? This piece from way back in 2020 re-emerged on our most-read list for 2025.

No.23 — Fishing the deep water of Manitoba: Want fishing success farther from shore? Our outdoors columnist Tim Sopuck ran readers down some tips and tricks for catching deep water fish in Manitoba.

No. 22 — Manitoba’s wild pigs not headed for population boom, expert says: The co-ordinator for Manitoba’s Squeal on Pigs program says our cold climate situation isn’t comparable to U.S.

No. 21 — We’ve seen trade wars before, but this time is different: Throwing back all the way to January for this one. This early 2025 editorial looked down the barrel of changing U.S. trade policy and what it could mean for Canadian agriculture.

Nov. 20 — Riverside Hutterite Colony gets top honours: It was a western Manitoba sweep at this year’s Royal Manitoba Winter Fair Pork Quality Competition back in spring.

Other highlights so far include beekeepers battling for survival, more trade and tariff stories and Manitoba’s first bovine tuberculosis case in years.

Want to see the full list? Check out our top stories landing page in the top-left corner of our website. Keep checking back until Jan. 31 as we unveil our top 10.

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This followed the annual review of prices and consultations with stakeholders. The increase takes effect on Feb. 1, 2026.

Despite lower inflation in 2025, producers have faced higher animal feed and labour costs, the commission said. The increase “reflects a balanced approach” that aligns with inflation and food price trends.

Related: Lactanet to expand reach of disease resistance breeding tool

The commission will also raise its carrying charges to $0.0254 cents per kg of butter from $0.0137 per kg, effective Feb. 1.

The commission collects carrying charges to offset the cost of its storage programs. The Canadian Dairy Commission balances seasonal changes in the supply and demand of butter by buying butter and holding it back while milk production is high and demand is low, and then selling it back to manufacturers when demand increases and production drops, according to Wednesday news release.

The combined effect of the price increases will cause the cost of milk to food processors to rise by 2.3750 per cent, or roughly two cents per litre.

In 2025, the dairy commission slightly reduced its farm gate milk price on productivity gains and lower costs for some inputs.

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On Oct. 1, the Globe and Mail reported that a potential change to bilateral trade law allowing for more U.S.-sourced dairy on Canadian grocery shelves was being floated in Ottawa, citing unnamed sources close to the issue but who were “not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.”

That contrasts with official word from the federal minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade. A spokesperson from the office of Dominic Leblanc reiterated commitments to protect Canadian industry, said that their office had engaged with supply managed industries and stated that ““Canada’s supply management system will never be on the table,” when asked for comment from the Globe and Mail.

WHY IT MATTERS: Supply management, and dairy in particular, has been a prime target for U.S. irritation as trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. continue.

The article further noted that Leblanc had launched consultations between government representatives and “key players” in Canada’s dairy industry Sept. 19, in advance of 2026’s anticipated review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

Neither LeBlanc or industry sources offered further comment. The two unnamed sources said talks thus far had focused on import restriction changes.

Access to Canadian dairy markets and supply management systems are forecast to be among the CUSMA review’s most heated exchanges, particularly in light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated condemnation of the practice.

Tariff rate quota, which earmarks certain dairy volumes to come into Canada at lower duty levels, has been a particular sticking point, not only from the Trump administration, but also during the Biden administration, as well as creating tension between Canada and New Zealand. Trading partners have argued that TRQ rights tended to be unfairly reserved for Canadian processors, leaving little room for access.

In 2021, Canada faced a CUSMA complaint over the issue from the U.S., after which it made changes to how TRQs were administered.

The U.S., however, has long pushed for a more open system. That less regulated access has been resisted strongly by the Canadian government and supply management advocates, who argue that the current system has been key for providing consistent market conditions and has bolstered the health of sectors like Canadian dairy and poultry.

The consultations also take place in the shadow of Bill C-202, the successor to Bill C-282, which died on the floor when Canada’s federal election was called in early 2025. The bill limits Canada’s ability to make trade concessions impacting supply managed industries. It was welcomed by supply management advocates, but denounced by export-reliant agriculture sectors, who argued that it de-fanged Canada at the negotiating table. Bill C-202 received royal assent on June 26 of this year.

The post Media reports suggest U.S. dairy access to Canada a topic of conversation in Ottawa appeared first on Country Guide.

“In international relations, the pot can call the kettle black — but doing so doesn’t build trust, goodwill, or alliances, and weakens credibility,” said Al Mussell, Agri-Food Economic Systems’ research lead and author of the policy paper.

Despite criticisms of Canadian dairy policy, the American dairy industry has many of the same protectionist tendencies Canada does, Mussell argued in Throwing Stones from a Glass House: Understanding the US Narrative on Canada Dairy Policy.

Complaints from the industry, President

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote an open letter in which he accused Canada of charging “extraordinary Tariffs to (American) Dairy Farmers — up to 400%.”

This figure has been disputed, though Canada’s dairy tariffs are over 200 per cent.

Recently members of the National Milk Producers Federation in the U.S. told the U.S. International Trade Commission that Canada was undermining American dairy producers’ access to foreign markets with “artificially low-priced exports.”

Despite the frequent American complaints, “there are many similarities in dairy and trade policies between the U.S. and Canada,” Mussell said in a news release.

Systems compared

These policy parallels include pricing milk collected from farms in end-use classes and “barriers to imports that facilitate the operating of their respective milk marketing systems,” the paper said.

In trade policy, both countries use tariffs and tariff-rate quotas (TRQs).

“The level of access that Canada offers to its dairy market via TRQs is … proportionately much higher than the U.S.,” due to high accessibility for products like skim milk powder,” said Mussell.

The two countries are also remarkably similar in how they administer permits and allocate TRQ.

The U.S. has objected to the allocation of dairy import permits by Canada to processors, “but this is what the U.S. does,” Mussell wrote.

He noted Canada allocates dairy import permits proportional to historical imports or output and so does the U.S.

Although the U.S. has complained that Canada doesn’t fill some of its dairy import quotas, Mussell said the U.S. leaves many of its own dairy import quotas unfilled.

Meanwhile, the U.S. also employs policy measures that distort markets, like pooling of milk revenue to advantage dairy manufacturing, and non-tariff barriers relating to Grade A milk products that the U.S . employs and Canada does not.

Mussell also noted the crucial differences between the two countries’ systems, like the pricing structure. Canada’s system is based mostly on cost of production. The U.S. pricing structure is more variable, requiring government stabilization program support.

The similarity between the two nations’ dairy trade policy presents an opportunity for alignment, Mussell concluded.

The full policy note is available here.

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The research published by science journal Nature is based on the 60-day period following the clinical diagnosis of highly-pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 in an Ohio dairy herd.

Why it matters: Bird flu has already led to devastating losses in the poultry sector and has recently found its way into dairy cattle.

The paper estimates total financial losses based on death, early herd removal and decreased milk production of each infected animal. The results were an estimated loss of $950 USD or just under $1300 CAD per cow, and $737,500 USD or just over $1 million CAD for the herd during the observation period.

Infected cows showed signs of decreasing milk production and lower rumination time. Milk production began dropping five days before diagnosis and reached its lowest point two days after.

Nature recorded losses of around 900 kg of milk per infected cow.

There have been no recorded cases of avian influenza in cattle in Canada. In the U.S., the virus has infected cows in several states across the country.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) added requirements for extra certification for dairy cattle returning from the U.S. in August of last year.

The CFIA is currently working with the Public Health Agency of Canada to monitor Canadian dairy cattle and milk for avian influenza.

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The field is called epigenetics, and Antler Bio is one of the first companies to create a testing program to prove management-genetic interactions.

See all of our Ag in Motion coverage at the Western Producer.

Andy Lessey, chief operating officer of Antler Bio, was at Ag in Motion 2025 as part of the Cultivator by Conexus display. Cultivator is a Saskatchewan-based technology accelerator that has a partnership with InnovateUK to have some British tech companies as part of its cohorts.

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Why it matters: Canada’s supply management system remains a sticking point in trade negotiations with the U.S.

“This agreement, negotiated in close consultation with Canadian dairy stakeholders, will result in certain minor policy changes to Canada’s TRQ (tariff rate quotas) administration, and does not amend Canada’s market access commitments,” International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said in a statement.

New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay added in a separate statement that the government was pleased the dispute has now been settled, and New Zealand exporters are guaranteed better access to the Canadian market.

“Today’s agreement reinforces support for the rules-based trading system,” McClay said.

New Zealand launched a claim against Canada in May 2022, arguing that Ottawa’s implementation of dairy tariff rate quotas under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade agreement were against the its rules.

Under the new agreement, Canada has committed to make commercially meaningful changes to the way it administers its dairy quotas under CPTPP, according to the New Zealand government. The Canadian government added that this means there are technical policy changes but these are limited to quotas administered under the terms of the CPTPP.

Canada’s supply management system, which since the 1970s has tightly controlled supplies of dairy, eggs and poultry by restricting production and limiting imports through onerous tariffs, has become a sticking pointing in its ongoing trade negotiations with the U.S.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized what he calls tremendously high Canadian tariffs on dairy products.

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Analysts said ditching the digital services tax was politically easy for Prime Minister Mark Carney compared to even discussing Canada’s supply management system that since the 1970s has tightly controlled supplies of dairy, eggs and poultry by restricting production and limiting imports through onerous tariffs.

When Carney met with Trump in mid-June, he said the two leaders were aiming for a new economic agreement by July 21.

Trump, however, threatened in a Truth Social post on Friday to derail talks and impose new tariffs due to the digital service tax, which had been scheduled to take effect on Monday.

Supply management an old sticking point

In the same post, Trump also attacked tariffs on dairy products.

Carney and Trump both confirmed negotiations had restarted with the removal of the tax.

“Trump is basically one Truth Social post away from creating political chaos in Canada,” said Sylvain Charlebois, a food industry analyst and professor at Dalhousie University.

Canada’s supply management system was a sticking point in trade negotiations during Trump’s first term, but withstood the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020. By March in his second term, Trump threatened reciprocal U.S. tariffs on dairy due to what he called tremendously high Canadian tariffs.

The USMCA provided limited duty-free quotas for U.S. dairy products, but for anything above these levels, tariffs on specific products can exceed 200 per cent. Washington for years has unsuccessfully challenged the way that Ottawa has allocated the USMCA dairy quotas.

While some said dropping the digital services tax made Canada look weak, it has not been politically explosive and the tax was a little-known measure for many Canadians.

On the other hand, parliament amended legislation shortly before starting summer break to prevent supply management from being put on the table during trade talks, with unanimous support from all political parties in the House of Commons.

Supply management may not be off the table

Still, trade experts say the recent legislation would not stop Canada’s negotiators from discussing it.

“At the end of the day, a Canadian government is going to do what it needs to do with supply management to get a deal,” said Tyler McCann, the managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, who thinks many farmers have a false belief that the legislation is binding.

The U.S. Commerce Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. ambassador in Ottawa declined to comment on trade talks.

Gabriel Brunet, spokesperson for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, said in a statement the federal government “will always stand up for the Canadian dairy industry.”

“Our supply management system will never be on the table,” the statement said.

Canada’s dairy industry is particularly influential in Ottawa, with the majority of the country’s dairy farms located in the most-populous provinces of Quebec and Ontario, provinces seen as essential to winning any federal election.

Despite concessions to Trump during his first term, supply management survived the USMCA, survives within the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and operates within the Canada-EU deal, McCann noted.

Dairy Farmers of Canada, a lobby group, said that Trump’s Friday statement was “not supported by the facts,” noting the U.S. dairy industry ships more American dairy products to Canada than go the other way.

— Additional reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny

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