Canadian canola sales to China are hanging in legal limbo.
March 20 was the last day that genetically modified canola, soybeans
and other crops could be received in China before new regulations came
into force. To ship GM crops to China now, exporters need a series of
approvals. No one has yet received one.
Canadian exporters are watching as the complex system of approvals is
worked through by hopeful sellers, Don Kerr of James Richardson
International told the Manitoba Flax Growers Association.
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Trade issues existed long before U.S. president Donald Trump and his on-again, off-again tariffs came along, said panelists at a policy summit last month.
“Nobody in China knows what kind of criteria is going to govern the
importation of soybeans, canola, corn and a lot of other products,”
said Kerr.
Companies that own the GM traits found in farmers’ crops, such as
Monsanto with its Roundup Ready gene, have until March 31 to submit
applications for approval of the traits.
If those approvals are given, the grain companies and other export
shippers will have to submit approval requests that include Canadian
government declarations that the grain being shipped was grown in
Canada, is safe and approved for use.
Kerr said the process is complicated. The application form grain
companies must fill out is 180 pages. That’s why even Chinese
officials aren’t sure what rules will determine acceptance or denial.
“You had pretty well all the bureaucrats in China getting involved in
setting import regulations,” said Kerr.
Joanne Buth of the Canola Council of Canada said the industry is
watching how Monsanto, Aventis and Syngenta fare in getting approvals.
She said the canola industry is pleased that it appears to be getting
treated equally with soybeans. The Chinese government told the American
government that soybean approvals or denials would be given within 30
days of application, rather than within 280 days, which was the
original time frame laid out by the Chinese. The same will apply to
canola.
Kerr said China may delay and complicate soybean shipments, but it
cannot afford to completely cut them off.
“Let’s face it. They need them. They’re going to import 12 million
pounds of beans,” said Kerr. “They can’t live without them.”
But the new rules will be a lingering complication that might be used
to protect China’s agricultural sector.
“It will sort itself out in the future, but it’s also creating another
problem. It will always be used as a hammer, as a non-tariff trade
barrier,” said Kerr.
