Dairy regulation in a context of market volatility—United States, New Zealand, Canada, France, and Switzerland

This article, in a context of increased price volatility, documents and compares the logic of the regulation system of various countries in managing this volatility. Five countries have been selected: the United States, New Zealand, Canada, France, and Switzerland. These mechanisms are non-existent in New Zealand. In Canada, the supply management system prevents the appearance of market imbalance. But this regulatory system isolates Canadian industry from the rest of world trade and forces it to develop on the sole basis of the domestic market. In the United States, intervention in the market in the event of a decline in margins is defined in such a way that its impact on a rebalancing of the market is likely to be very limited. On the other hand, the counter-cyclical payments program will protect producers’ income. In France, the quota system was progressively dismantled. It was replaced by a contractualization policy between producers and processors. The mechanisms for managing market imbalances are not really defined in the texts of the Common Market Organization for agricultural markets. ‪In Switzerland, the management of imbalances falls within the scope of the interprofessional organization, without the latter having really managed to be effective in this regard.‪ (JEL: Q1, P5)