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OTTAWA — A formal review of cheese quotas under Canada’s trade deal with the European Union is quietly underway amid concerns that Europe’s cheesemakers are getting short shrift.

The EU invoked a review clause in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in April, citing longstanding concerns, according to documents obtained by the National Post. As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with top EU officials in Montreal Thursday, one expert with knowledge of the trade irritant predicts it “will not be a happy visit.”

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Concerns about “the administration of the cheese quota opened under the CETA” have persisted for several years, according to an April 17 letter to Canadian officials from the European co-chair of the CETA Committee on Agriculture, Jean-Marc Trarieux. The missive sought “possible changes” to the quota system “to address EU concerns.”

Most of the CETA took effect in 2017, though some countries have not yet ratified the deal, and exports on both sides have increased, Canada’s by seven per cent and Europe’s by nine per cent. But cheese remains a sticky issue.