New opportunities open for cereal grain sales

Vietnam has announced that as of August 29th, it will be removing creeping thistle as a pest of concern.

This is a key move, since in 2018, they announced plans to place phytosanitary restrictions on wheat from countries where creeping thistle can be found. 

Creeping thistle, also known as Canada thistle, or field thistle can be found in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

Dean Dias, CEO of Cereals Canada says they are pleased with the move.

"With creeping thistle on the quarantine pest list, Canadian grain cargoes faced the risk of commercial penalty. This change means that exports of Canadian cereals to Vietnam will be able to resume in bulk shipment for the first time since 2018."

In 2021, Canadian wheat exports to Vietnam fell to just over 20,000 tonnes from over 200,000 tonnes annually prior to the restriction.  

Dias says with this positive development, we look forward to the resumption of regular cereals trade between Canada and Vietnam.

Cereals Canada worked closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to help remove this non-tariff trade barrier.