Despite Canada’s best efforts to dissuade it, the U.S. government last week began quarantines and inspections on all fruits and vegetables crossing the border from Canada.
It will delay movement of the perishable products and according to some estimates add as much as $77 million to industry costs because of user fees to pay the cost of American inspections.
Canada has demanded that the rule be withdrawn in favour of more vigilance here to identify which fruits and vegetables heading south are Canadian grown.
“Implementation of fees represents a missed opportunity to address common risks through a collaborative, innovative approach,” said a June 1 statement from agriculture minister Chuck Strahl and trade minister David Emerson.
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But a representative of Canada’s horticultural industry said the sector is resigned to the change.
“We could see it coming and were preparing for it,” Canadian Horticultural Council executive vice-president Anne Fowlie said June 4. “It is unfortunate given the value of our two-way trade and this will mean added costs overall which will go back to the producer, but the new fees are now the reality.”
All other agricultural commodities already face inspection costs. Fruits and vegetables were the last exemption.
Canadian protests, counterproposals and negotiations managed to delay the implementation originally scheduled for November 2006.
During Parliament Hill testimony in October 2006, Gary Groves, representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa, said that under North American free trade, Canadian shipments south increasingly include fruits and vegetables imported to Canada from third countries.
The U.S. fears some of those foreign-produced crops could contain diseases or pests that are not an issue in colder Canada but could be activated in warmer American climates.
