Breaking News - Major Terrorist Attack In Oslo, Norway

[Barrister]

Does Canadia have the same requirement as the US, that all cheese sold must be made with pasteurized milk?

Just looked it up - no, if it's aged 60 days.

[Malthus]

Canada has a fairly shitty selection of cheeses available.

Damn you, Dairy Commission of Canada.  Damn you to HELL!

I rather suspect it is an issue of demand rather than the Dairy Commission (though it does play a role). You can find tons of good cheese in Montreal.

Lots of great cheeses in the European delis on Bloor street, in my neighbourhood. There are whole stores dedicated to, apparently, thousands of varieties of cheese.

Well yes, if you hunt around you can find nice cheese.  But the fact that any foreign cheese has (IIRC) a 100% tariff puts a big damper on having nice cheese more widely available.

It's more complicated than that: at the risk of entertaining Martinus & the Brain ( ), in Canada, if you have a valid import permit for cheese, you pay a very low tariff rate; but there is a national quota. If you can't get an import permit (prehaps because the quota is filled, or you are importing from a country to which the quota does not apply), you can import anyway, but you pay a whopping great tariff - something like 240%.

All your cheese-importing questions are answered here:  http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/dailai/cdnreqe.shtml

[Slargos]

Canada has a fairly shitty selection of cheeses available.

Damn you, Dairy Commission of Canada.  Damn you to HELL!

I rather suspect it is an issue of demand rather than the Dairy Commission (though it does play a role). You can find tons of good cheese in Montreal.

Lots of great cheeses in the European delis on Bloor street, in my neighbourhood. There are whole stores dedicated to, apparently, thousands of varieties of cheese.

Well yes, if you hunt around you can find nice cheese.  But the fact that any foreign cheese has (IIRC) a 100% tariff puts a big damper on having nice cheese more widely available.

It's more complicated than that: at the risk of entertaining Martinus & the Brain ( ), in Canada, if you have a valid import permit for cheese, you pay a very low tariff rate; but there is a national quota. If you can't get an import permit (prehaps because the quota is filled, or you are importing from a country to which the quota does not apply), you can import anyway, but you pay a whopping great tariff - something like 240%.

All your cheese-importing questions are answered here:  http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/dailai/cdnreqe.shtml

I stand corrected.

I was in the firm belief that only Norway had such insanity going on with dairy products.

Of course, this goes not just for cheese but for all foodstuffs in Norway, so I think we still win.

[Barrister]

Canada has a fairly shitty selection of cheeses available.

Damn you, Dairy Commission of Canada.  Damn you to HELL!

I rather suspect it is an issue of demand rather than the Dairy Commission (though it does play a role). You can find tons of good cheese in Montreal.

Lots of great cheeses in the European delis on Bloor street, in my neighbourhood. There are whole stores dedicated to, apparently, thousands of varieties of cheese.

Well yes, if you hunt around you can find nice cheese.  But the fact that any foreign cheese has (IIRC) a 100% tariff puts a big damper on having nice cheese more widely available.

It's more complicated than that: at the risk of entertaining Martinus & the Brain ( ), in Canada, if you have a valid import permit for cheese, you pay a very low tariff rate; but there is a national quota. If you can't get an import permit (prehaps because the quota is filled, or you are importing from a country to which the quota does not apply), you can import anyway, but you pay a whopping great tariff - something like 240%.

All your cheese-importing questions are answered here:  http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/dailai/cdnreqe.shtml

I stand corrected.

I was in the firm belief that only Norway had such insanity going on with dairy products.

Of course, this goes not just for cheese but for all foodstuffs in Norway, so I think we still win.

I wasn't kidding when I damned the Dairy Commission to hell.

[Slargos]

How interesting.

While looking for the Norwegian cheese tarriffs, I found that in 2010 there were ongoing negotiations with the EU to reduce the tarriffs on "ornamental flowers" including Roses.

Why is this interesting?

Because during the Utöya crisis, the Socialdemocrats scored political points by graciously lowering the tarriffs on Roses in order to ensure a steady supply for the various demonstrations and ceremonies following the event.

Bloody goddamned convenient.

[Martinus]

So this was a EU plot?

[Malthus]

I stand corrected.

I was in the firm belief that only Norway had such insanity going on with dairy products.

Of course, this goes not just for cheese but for all foodstuffs in Norway, so I think we still win.

It's the result of a combination of the desire to protect the (slowly fading, but emotionally evocative for family-farm-romantic reasons) dairy industry and the desire to meet international committments to free trade - creating a sort of frankenstien monster of bureaucracy. 

[Slargos]

So this was a KGB plot?

Not what I meant. It looks like Stoltenberg grabbed an already finished product and displayed it as an example of quick and magnanimous thinking in a time of crisis.

I smelt a rat when it happened, because Norwegian bureaucracy NEVER moves that quickly.

[Slargos]

I stand corrected.

I was in the firm belief that only Norway had such insanity going on with dairy products.

Of course, this goes not just for cheese but for all foodstuffs in Norway, so I think we still win.

It's the result of a combination of the desire to protect the (slowly fading, but emotionally evocative for family-farm-romantic reasons) dairy industry and the desire to meet international committments to free trade - creating a sort of frankenstien monster of bureaucracy. 

I have no problem with the notion of protecting national food production given that it's going to be a bitch to rebuild it if the need suddenly arises.

What I have a problem with is that the result is that it's profitable to run a "farm" with one cow and six pigs under this subsidy system and there is little to no incentive (or even motivation from the government under the notion that small farms makes the country side vibrant and alive) to run a more efficient production chain. This means high cost production supported by tax Kronor and the consumers and up taking it in all holes.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Good cheese is already expensive, but a 240% tariff on top 

...............for one of life's essential luxuries, I'm shocked 

[Slargos]

Good cheese is not a luxury, it's a basic necessity. You goddamned Norwegian. 

[The Great Santini]

Cheese faggotry. This place is full of idiots. 

[DGuller]

The only thing left is for some smartass to make a cheesy pun.

[citizen k]

A variety of cheeses is a gouda thing.

[Norgy]

To brie or not to brie, that is the question.