The door for canola meal entering the United States has been opened a little wider.
In mid-August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifted the import alert for product from the crushing plant operated by Bunge at Nipawin, Sask.
Being on that list prevented meal from that plant from being exported to the United States.
That’s the second of three Bunge plants to get a clean bill of health from the FDA.
A Bunge plant in Hamilton, Ont., was cleared for exports earlier this year.
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The FDA also lifted restrictions on Cargill’s plant at Clavet, Sask., in Dec. 2009.
However four facilities remain on the list:
• Bunge at Altona, Man.;
• Viterra at Ste. Agathe, Man.;
• ADM plants at Lloydminster and Windsor, Ont.
The import alerts were put in place after the FDA decided in the fall of 2008 to strictly enforce a zero-tolerance standard for the presence of salmonella in shipments of canola meal across the border.
An import alert signals FDA inspectors that there is enough evidence to refuse admission of a product into the U.S. without physical inspection.
Several plants have been on and off the FDA list over the last year.
The U.S. agency has been working with the companies involved and the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association to resolve the problem.
However, no details have been made public by government, regulators or industry about exactly what changes had to be made to a facility for FDA to lift the import alert.
Officials with COPA did not return phone calls seeking comment. Viterra referred questions to Canola Council of Canada president JoAnne Buth.
In an e-mail exchange, Buth said facilities that are put on the list inspect all aspects of their crushing plant to reduce the salmonella to the minimum possible level.
However there is no single, simple solution.
“The changes each plant makes are proprietary due to the uniqueness of each plant, what equipment it has and the technology employed at that facility,” she said.
She added the time it takes to make the required changes varies accordingly.
Statistics published by COPA indicate that canola crushing produced 2.3 million tonnes of canola meal in 2009, down from 2.5 million in 2008.
In the first seven months of 2007, meal production totalled 1.7 million tonnes.
That works out to 2.9 million tonnes over 12 months.
Export shipments to the U.S. decreased to 1.5 million in 2009 from 1.8 million tonnes in 2008. Exports in 2010 are on a pace to reach 1.2 million tonnes.
Canada has found new markets to replace the U.S., including Mexico, Indonesia and Taiwan.
Total meal exports in 2009 were 1.8 million tonnes, down from 1.9 million the year before.
