May 19, 2010

China's import restrictions on Canadian rapeseed remain intact due to the blackleg disease, according to the Canola Council of Canada.

In November last year, China began requiring that import shipments of Canadian rapeseed be declared free of blackleg disease, which is common in Canada.

"We have had no indication from the Chinese government at this point on any relaxation of the import rules for Canadian rapeseed," Council president JoAnne Buth said.

She acknowledged, however, that conversations on this issue are continuous between Canada and the Chinese government.

"Right now there are plans for a few co-operative research projects. The Canola Council has also been collecting some additional information in terms of what the risk might be to China's rapeseed crop if Canadian rapeseed would be imported," she said.

The Canadian government has also been in touch with the Chinese government on a constant basis with regard to the risk and areas into which Canada might be able to export rapeseed that have a low risk of spreading the disease.

Buth added that China would likely be making decisions soon on how much Canadian rapeseed will need to be imported.

Based on data from Statistics Canada, Canadian rapeseed exports to China so far in the 2009-10 crop years totalled 1.5 million tonnes. Of that total, 1.1 million tonnes of Canadian rapeseed were exported to China before the import restrictions were imposed in November. There have been 400,000 tonnes shipped to China since the import restrictions were put in place. During the 2008-09 seasons, Canada exported 2.9 million tonnes of rapeseed to China. During the 2007-08 crop years, those exports totalled 700,000 tonnes.