The re-negotiation of NAFTA was a topic of discussion last week during the Canadian Federation of Agriculture's Annual Industry-Government FPT Roundtable in St. John's, Newfoundland.

CFA President Ron Bonnett commented on the U.S. starting positions for the NAFTA talks, which were also unveiled last week.

"One thing I think that might be of concern is them talking about Chapter 19, which is dispute resolution. I think Canada would want to continue to have a really robust and fair dispute resolution process in place."

He adds Canada and the U.S. share some common ground including harmonization, looking at the regulatory framework, and streamlining electronic transfers.

Bonnett says the Canadian government has done a good job of building alliances with legislators down in the U.S.

Other topics discussed at last week's meeting included the next ag policy framework, and the development of a National Food Policy.