An Italian court case involving charges that an Italian grain importer purposely sold contaminated durum originally imported from Canada hasn’t interrupted sales to that country, says a Canadian Wheat Board spokesperson.
“There has been some additional scrutiny that some Italian mills have felt necessary, but we have continued to sell durum to Italy,” said Maureen Fitzhenry.
Over the past decade Canada has sold about 300,000 tonnes of durum a year to Italy. In the first five months of this crop year, shipments totalled 429,700 tonnes.
Controversy erupted in early January when the head of a major Italian grain importing company was arrested and charged with knowingly selling contaminated grain, providing authorities with false documents and mixing infected wheat with unadulterated grain.
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The charges involved 58,000 tonnes of Canadian durum, which was shipped to Italy in late summer of 2005 and was found by Italian authorities to contain levels of ochratoxin A three times above the allowable European Union limits.
Ochratoxin A is a naturally occurring fungus that infects cereal grain and is often associated with storing grain at high moisture levels.
The puzzling aspect of the case for Canadian officials is that samples of the cargo taken before its departure from Canada were tested by the Canadian Grain Commission and found to be well within the EU limits of five parts per billion.
Fitzhenry said the board is not involved in the court case and remains mystified by the turn of events.
“All we know is that the vessel loading samples from that ship tested within acceptable parameters for European ochratoxin levels,” she said. “That’s all we can really say.”
