WINNIPEG — A discrepancy between reported Canadian wheat and barley exports to the U.S. and that country’s import statistics suggests rumors of widespread illegal sales are true.
Statisticians can’t explain why the U.S. imported nearly 366,700 tonnes more wheat and barley from Canada than the Canadian Grain Commission has records of exporting so far during the crop year.
“Part of the discrepancy could be just the timing of the receipt of documents,” said Karen Gray, head of Statistics Canada’s grain marketing unit.
But she said in recent years the difference between the two sets of numbers has been within 10,000 tonnes. “This is a bit unusual.”
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The numbers for the first eight months of the crop year suggest that as much as 15 percent of the wheat and 11 percent of the barley exported was not reported through Canadian channels.
The discrepancy has the Canadian Wheat Board looking for ways to crack down on wheat and barley moving across the border without the export permit required under federal legislation.
“We have been talking with U.S. customs people to sort of tighten up reporting procedures,” said Brian Stacey, of the wheat board.
Stacey said board officials expect the difference in the two sets of numbers will narrow once final tallies are taken, but it is clear some illegal movement is taking place.
Export permit required
Grain trucks hauling wheat or barley are required under the Canadian Wheat Board Act to stop at Canada Customs as they leave the country to show their export permit from the board.
But there is no mechanism for forcing truckers to stop. “It’s a long border and it’s something that’s very difficult to administrate,” Stacey said. “Basically it goes on the honor system, we expect people to comply with the regulation.”
Stacey said it is in both countries’ interest to have “more co-operation so we can avoid some of these situations of grain going in without a permit.”
Statistics Canada, which now gets its figures from U.S. Customs import data, said 1,661,375 tonnes of wheat and 955,296 tonnes of barley moved into the U.S. between Aug. 1 and March 31.
The Canadian Grain Commission, which bases its numbers on Canadian Wheat Board data and eastern movement through licensed elevators, puts exports of wheat and durum to the U.S. at 1,404,900 tonnes and of barley at 845,100 tonnes.
The difference, which totals 366,671 tonnes, is the equivalent of about 45 semiloads per day crossing prairie border points during that time.
