We live in an age of unfettered free markets, right? Well, say you need to pick up a few things for a trip to the cottage. Chances are you'll be buying several items provided by a cartel, supply-management scheme or monopoly, either foreign or domestic. As well, many producers have been pressing for stronger protection and higher prices recently--and succeeding. *** Ottawa protected its poultry supply-management system at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle last December. "I've been looking at [supply management]for 20 years and I keep thinking it's going to self-destruct," says Robert Sexty, a business professor at Memorial University in St. John's. "But it keeps perking along." *** Dairy supply management survived Seattle as well. The Canadian Dairy Commission approved a 3.1% price increase in February for so-called industrial milk, which is sold to manufacturers to make other dairy products. *** Molson and Labatt have about 90% of the domestic market. Imports and small breweries officially have equal access, but everyone must abide by provincial distribution and minimum pricing rules. Last fall, Ontario refused to allow Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. to sell beer in its convenience store chains, as it does in Quebec. *** The new 14-nation Association of Coffee Producing Countries held its first meeting in London in May and agreed to raise the minimum price of raw beans by 37%. *** After retreating in the late 1980s and 1990s, OPEC is baaaaack--and maintaining better price discipline. Oil prices settled near $30 (U.S.) a barrel in early June, up from $17 a year ago. Ever think you'd be happy to pay 69 cents a litre for gasoline? *** Canadian ice-wine producers are fuming about European trade barriers. In May, the Ontario government threatened to direct the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the largest single buyer of European wine in the world, to cut imports. Remember the bad old days of protected domestic plonk and pricey Bordeaux? *** Ottawa already gives brand-name drug manufacturers 20 years of patent protection against generic copies. In May, the WTO ruled that protection for 66,000 drugs and high-tech innovations should be lengthened. Generic drug manufacturers say that will cost Canadians $200 million a year.