Canola growers and the grain industry are relieved now that it looks like Canadian canola won’t be blocked from the Chinese market.
“This is really positive, really good news,” said Ross Ravelli, a Dawson Creek, B.C., farmer and Canola Cou-ncil of Canada director.
“We needed this to happen.”
The Chinese government ann-ounced April 13 that it would issue safety certificates for Canadian canola, seven days before earlier-issued certificates expired.
Without the certificates, shiploads of genetically modified canola seed and canola oil cannot be landed in China.
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“We’re relieved,” said Canola Council of Canada president Barb Isman April 12.
“We were told there wouldn’t be a disruption of trade, but we weren’t told anything beyond that.”
Isman said the certificates are going to have conditions attached. She didn’t know what these would be, but was hoping they were no more onerous than what was applied to American soybeans.
The certificates are needed by exporters to apply for an import permit. Since China joined the World Trade Organization and agreed to allow imports of genetically modified crops that are certified safe, the country has been allowing imports of some GM crops as long as they have a temporary safety certificate from the Chinese government. The certificates will be valid for three years and replace the temporary certifications.
Isman said canola oil exporters were getting antsy about the approaching expiry of the temporary certificates because they had made sales to Chinese buyers but didn’t know whether they would be able to send the cargoes.
“We couldn’t have a lengthy suspension without that affecting sales of oil,” said Isman.
Chinese canola and rapeseed crops are being harvested now so there is little demand for imported seed but some demand for oil.
Monsanto and Bayer, companies that have developed GM canola, have set up laboratories and collected data for Chinese authorities to get their GM canola approved.
Some of the data was not received quickly enough to be considered in the first round of Chinese certificate approvals, but it has now been considered successfully, Isman said.
Fears of losing access to the promising Chinese market came forward in a speech by a Chinese official at the canola group’s annual meeting in Mexico in March.
Ravelli said he was pleased with how quickly the problem was cleared up.
“The quick resolution was really encouraging,” he said.
Ken Ball, a commodities broker with Benson Quinn-GMS, said he thought the panic among some was overblown and that the desire to hurry along the certification process was “bullish” for canola prices.
“The reason no one pressed to get this done all winter was because China just wasn’t in the canola market,” said Ball.
“The fact that it’s become so urgent to do something finally, probably says that they are now.”
Ravelli said farmers need to be able to count on access to the Chinese market to confidently plant the large acreages of canola many say they plan.
“What are we going to do with all those millions of extra tonnes of canola next year? We need China to take some,” said Ravelli.
