Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Winnipeg, Manitoba/Beijing
An expanding list of Canadian farm exports is hitting obstacles at Chinese ports, leaving sellers of soybeans, peas and pork scrambling amid a bitter diplomatic dispute.
China has already blocked Canadian canola from Richardson International and Viterra, two of Canada’s biggest farm exporters, saying that shipments had pests. Other China-bound canola cargoes have been cancelled, forcing exporters to re-sell elsewhere at discount.
Canadian politicians have said the concerns are baseless, and noted that China detained two Canadians after Canada arrested an executive of Chinese telecom company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in December at the United States’ request. China has used nontariff barriers before during diplomatic tensions, most recently against Australian coal.
Now traders say Canadian soybeans and peas face unusual obstacles. Ottawa also warned last week that China was holding up pork shipments over paperwork issues.
Increasing tensions with China, a top buyer for most Canadian farm commodities, have forced farmers to plant other crops, such as wheat, that they hope will not face barriers.
China bought C$2.7 billion ($2.01 billion) worth of Canada’s canola and C$514 million worth of its pork last year.
To be sure, the spread of African swine fever through China’s pig herd has reduced China’s need for canola and soybeans to process into feed ingredients.
‘You buy from canada, we’re going to make life difficult’
But since January, port soybean inspections that routinely take a few days now require three weeks, causing Chinese buyers to avoid Canadian products, said Dwight Gerling, president of Canadian exporter DG Global.
“They’re basically sending out the signal, ‘You buy from Canada, we’re going to make your life difficult,’” Gerling said.
Earlier this year, a Chinese buyer told Gerling that a government inspector had found ants in 34 containers (roughly 680 tonnes) of the Canadian soybeans he shipped there. Such a finding would be rare, since the soybeans were stored in concrete silos in Canada and shipped in sealed containers in late autumn, said Gerling, who concluded the buyer was trying to avoid the new hassles of buying from Canada.
“It’s just them playing games. (Beijing) is just going to keep putting the screws to us.”
China’s General Administration of Customs did not reply to a fax seeking comment. Government officials have said their canola ban is a regular inspection and quarantine measure to protect China’s farm production and ecological safety.
