Senators cite problems for farmers in final day of debate.Ottawa—The federal government needs to closely watch how CUSMA is implemented to ensure that Canada gets the benefits it expects from the trade deal, say several senators.While they didn't oppose the legislation to ratify CUSMA, which was rushed through the Senate shortly before Parliament shut down for more than a month as part of government efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, they were critical ofthe harsh impact its provisions will have on the dairy and poultry sectors.While President Trump wants CUSMA in full operation for July 1, it's expected to take up to six months for the three countries to fully implement it.The ratification was welcomed by the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) President Dan Darling. “For Canada's agri-food exporters, competitive access to international markets is our bread and butter. We applaud the efforts of everyone who contributed to getting CUSMA to this point and look forward to reaping the benefits of continued free trade in vital North American markets.”Quebec Senator Larry Smith said the concessions in the deal on top of the ones made in the European and Pacific trade deals could cost the dairy sector as much as 10 per cent of the domestic market in the coming years.“Our agility and ability to influence people, once the deal is done, will be very important in terms of how we manage the new deal,” he said. “This is good for our country, but let's be honest, there are challenges within that to make it even better as we go forward.”He also criticized the government's claim of a GDP gain of $6.8 billion from the deal. “Overall, after CUSMA is implemented, Global Affairs is projecting Canadian exports into the U.S. to be valued at $16.9 billion, and imports from the United States are projected to be valued at $20.4 billion. There is a discrepancy that we will have to manage.”The C.D. Howe Institute concluded Canada's GDP will shrink by 0.4 per cent “and the country is set to lose $10 billion in economic welfare,” he saidSenator Donald Plett, the Leader of the Opposition, said, “There are certain aspects of this particular agreement that should give us all pause for concern, and they are issues that we as parliamentarians have to monitor in the years ahead.”He said the government measured the gains under this agreement as if the alternative was no agreement of any kind. This assumes that the U.S. Congress and northern American states would just have accepted no deal between Canada and the United States.“It is difficult to imagine that the United States itself would have preferred this outcome, yet this is the scenario against which the government is measuring the trade agreement which it has negotiated.”He criticized the increased access for American dairy products which “are heavily subsidized by the American government.”  The Canadian government “made absolutely no gains in tackling the issue of American subsidies to their agricultural sector.“Our farmers have yet to see the details of the support package which the government has promised to farmers, and that is extremely disappointing. Farmers require certainty, like any other business,” he said.“The government has known about the details of the agricultural provisions in this agreement that we now have for well over a year, and yet farmers still do not have the certainty that they need. That should make us all very concerned.”CAFTA said the United States and Mexico are the first and fourth largest exports markets for Canadian food and agricultural products, making up well over half of total Canadian food and agricultural exports last year.The deal includes predicable, duty-free access to the North American market, no new tariff or trade-restricting measures and all agricultural products that had zero tariffs under NAFTA will remain at zero tariffs and safeguards the food manufacturing supply chains that have been developed over the past generation “ensuring trade in North America will remain predictable, stable and highly integrated.”It also provides meaningful progress on regulatory alignment and cooperation, CAFTA said. “The establishment of the Working Group for Cooperation on Agricultural Biotechnology and the creation of a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary Committee will ensure regulations are transparent, based on science and that trade in North America flows freely, fairly and abundantly.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.