A backlog of paperwork that had slowed grain shipments out of Vancouver this spring has been resolved.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has added new inspectors in an effort to speed up the issuance of phytosanitary certificates.
A process that had traditionally taken just a few days bogged down this spring, as heavy demand from grain and lumber shippers overwhelmed the two CFIA staff members responsible for the certificates.
Shippers complained it was taking 10-14 days to get the certificates, leading to problems meeting customers’ shipping schedules and obtaining prompt payment for prairie farmers.
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The addition of two new staff members has returned the situation to normal.
“We’ve gotten back to a decent turnaround time of three or four days,” said Ken Wong, CFIA program officer in Vancouver.
Two staff members are now located at the agency’s harbour front office and deal solely with grain certificates. Two others handle lumber certificates out of the agency’s Burnaby office.
A Canadian Wheat Board official said the new arrangements seem to have resolved the problem.
“Everything is working fine now and we’re quite happy,” said Louise Waldman.
Phytosanitary certificates confirm that an export shipment of plant products is free of disease, pests and noxious weeds, and verify that the shipments meet the standards required by the importing country.
Vessels can leave port without a certificate but cannot be unloaded at destination. In addition, payment will not be made in the absence of a certificate.
Wong said a number of factors increased the workload for the agency’s inspectors.
An increased volume of special crops being exported from the West Coast has increased the demand for phytosanitary inspection. More grain is being shipped in containers, each of which requires its own certificate. Changes in the lumber industry have also increased demand for certificates.
Things reached a head in March when the agency had to issue 251 certificates for grain and 550 for lumber.
“Everybody was shipping like mad at one point and we couldn’t keep up with the documentation,” said Wong.
The agency is looking at using on-line applications to try to streamline the process further, he said.
