Port Stilton Update 2024
We’re most of the way through October already, and the Christmas season is becoming a reality very quickly.
The kitchen has scheduled their times for making Tourtière, we’ve pre booked mountains of cheese that should start to arrive mid-November, and we’ve started playing Tetris in all of our storage areas, just to try to make everything fit.
Ahhh …. it’s starting to feel like Christmas.
The one thing that is different this year is we have one less task to do. This year we have no whole wheels of Silton to make our yearly Port Soaked Silton. There is no possibility of getting any whole wheels that will arrive in time for the 6 – 7 week ritual of piercing and pouring that is involved in making this Christmas treat. We’ll still have some stilton, but it will arrive in ¼ wheel rounds. Still delicious, just not in the whole wheel format.
The sad reason we will probably be shy on UK cheeses this holiday season is politics. In Canada, there is a complicated system of trade quota to bring dairy into Canada. Only so much cheese is allowed into Canada each year and companies that import cheese, have rights to that trade quota. To make a long and complicated story short, you and I can’t just decide to import cheese into Canada. That’s not the way it works.
For cheeses, there are two types of cheese quota. There is EU (European Union) quota, and non-EU quota. For non-EU quota most companies in the past have imported cheeses from Switzerland and the US, as well as small amounts from other countries. EU quota, which is a much larger amount has brought us cheeses from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Britain.
Now comes the real politics part. Brexit has changed everything. As of 2020 the UK is not part of the European Union, so EU quota does not apply for UK cheeses. Luckily the British and Canadian governments had an interim agreement that lasted until the end of 2023. That agreement is now finished, and it seems as if talks to negotiate a new trade agreement between our two nations have gone nowhere. It also means that imports above and beyond the quota will be subject to tarrifs of almost 250%.
Where does that leave all of us? It will leave our store and every other cheese store across Canada with way less British favourites to sell. It will leave you with less choices when it comes to your seasonal cheeseboard. It has definitely left British cheese makers with a glut of cheese that they won’t be able to sell, as they would normally have sold them to Canadian importers. This has affected some companies so adversely that they have been forced to lay off many employees, and some may even have to permanently close, which is just such a sad prospect.
This is my simplified version of events. I realize trade negotiations between countries is complex and sensitive, but one thing I know is this fiasco is causing a lot of issues for UK cheese companies, and Canadian cheese retailers.
If this is a concern to you, perhaps you could write to your local MP to let them know we would all like them to campaign on our behalf to find a solution to this mess. Our government should be working for small businesses and large businesses across Canada, and so many types of business are being affected by the lack of a trade agreement.
Contact list:
- Vancouver Centre – Hedy Fry fry@parl.gc.ca
- Vancouver East - Jenny Kwan kwan@parl.gc.ca
- Vancouver South – Harjit S. Sajjan sajjan@parl.gc.ca
- Vancouver Granville – Taleeb Noormohamed noormohamed@parl.gc.ca
- Vancouver Quadra – Joyce Murray murray@parl.gc.ca
- Vancouver Kingsway – Don Davies davies@parl.gc.ca
- West Vancouver – Patrick Weiler Weiler@parl.gc.ca
- North Vancouver – Jonathan Wilkinson wilkinson@parl.gc.ca
- Victoria – Laurel Colins Collins@parl.gc.ca
For a full list of MP’s see this link.
Current Members of Parliament - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada
Sample Letter / Email
Dear (member of parliament)
My name is (your name), and I’m a fan of British Cheeses. But because of the current restrictions on importing cheeses from the UK, I’m not going to be able to eat some of my favourite cheeses this holiday season. There won’t be many available to purchase at my local cheese store. Worst of all, for the first year ever, there won’t be any of the port-soaked stilton for sale at my favourite Vancouver cheese shop, les amis du FROMAGE. It’s a holiday tradition in our home.
Please continue trade negotiations so that we can come to a agreement that allows for continued market access to British cheeses. I’m sure that all of the Canadian local specialty cheese retailers would be happy to see this issue resolved sooner rather than later.
In this challenging business environment and ongoing period of economic uncertainty, small luxuries, like British cheeses, provide jobs and give enjoyment to thousands of people. Canadian consumers and businesses should not have to suffer the consequences of the fallout from Brexit. All we are saying is give cheese a chance.
I would be interested in hearing what plans you have to fix the issue.
Sincerely,
(insert your name)