China, Canada haven't reached canola agreement

Canadian and Chinese government officials have not reached an agreement regarding China's s intention to implement phytosanitary certificates on all imported canola after Nov. 15, the Canola Council of Canada said Monday (November 2).

 

"In a briefing from the Canadian delegation that is in China, we were told that no agreement has been reached," Debbie Belanger, a spokeswoman for the Canola Council said.

 

In October, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency advised the grain trade that China would require phytosanitary certificates would be required effective Nov. 15 to verify the canola shipments were free of blackleg, a fungal disease that can cause significant yield loss in canola.

 

Canadian officials had planned to ask for a six-month delay before the certification requirements would take effect.

 

"The Chinese officials also were not willing to extend the deadline to implement the restrictions," Belanger said.

 

She said the Canadian delegation remains in China and will continue efforts to resolve the issue.

 

"Canada over the past 10 years has shipped on average 1.0 million tonnes of canola to China without any problems regarding the blackleg disease," Belanger said, adding that during the 2008-09 (August-July) crop year, 2.8 million tonnes of Canadian canola was exported to China without any incident.

 

"These pending restrictions by China are unacceptable to the Canadian canola industry," Belanger said.

 

The CFIA has indicated that it will not be able to issue a certificate as blackleg is a common plant disease of canola and that there is no agreed-upon testing method.

 

Canadian exporters have speculated that the new Chinese rules are more about scaling back canola purchases than a plant health issue.