Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says China’s decision to block Canadian canola imports is “unjustified.”
Speaking to reporters in Paris June 7, he said Canadian canola is the cleanest and safest in the world.
Since March, China has rejected canola shipments citing contamination from pests, but hasn’t provided satisfactory evidence to Canadian officials.
“They’re inventing excuses around that to block canola and perhaps next steps as well,” Trudeau said in his strongest statement on the matter so far.
Pork inspection has been stepped up due to a couple of administrative errors by Canadian shippers and China’s concern about African swine fever. There are also some reported delays with soybean shipments.
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But most observers in Canada agree the problems have little to do with agriculture at all and are actually Chinese retaliation for Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou, the senior Huawei executive under a United States extradition request.
Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told the standing agriculture committee last week that plant health experts from both countries discussed canola in a June 5 conference call and agreed to continue to meet by teleconference.
The call was the first since Bibeau met with her Chinese counterpart at the G20 ministers’ meeting in Japan earlier in May.
“Canadian experts continue to seek an in-person technical meeting specifically to discuss the supporting evidence,” the minister said.
Conservative agriculture critic Luc Berthold said Canada’s diplomatic approach isn’t working and the crisis is worsening.
NDP agriculture critic Alistair MacGregor asked at what point Canada will consider China’s refusal to host a high-level technical delegation insulting.
“What other measures are we going to start employing to get some movement on this issue because it just seems to be stuck,” he said.
Bibeau said the agreement to continue discussions is positive.
“They did not close the door to the delegation because we asked for it again,” she said. “So we are still asking for that but the conversation is reactivated and yesterday we could feel that we are at a different level of getting to what we want to talk about, the evidence and everything.”
Alberta Conservative MP Earl Dreeshen said perhaps China sees that Canada has not responded strongly to market restrictions from Italy, India, Saudi Arabia, Peru and Vietnam and believes it can do the same.
Bibeau said resolving the canola issue is her highest priority.
Meanwhile, she told the committee she plans to announce details of a $3.9-billion package for supply-managed producers affected by trade details by the end of June.
She said the analysis and assessment of funding mechanisms and consultations with those affected has been completed.
karen.briere@producer.com
