Canola producers and industry spokesmen breathed a sigh of relief that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other members of the Canadian delegation were able to diffuse a dispute with China over canola dockage limits hours before Thursday’s deadline, but say they need a long-term solution.
“It’s a positive step forward,” said Brian Innes, vice-president of government relations for the Canola Council of Canada. “We’re not there yet, but we see a solution within sight.”
Innes was reacting to news from Being early Wednesday that the PM, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and Canola Council of Canada president Patti Miller were able to broker a deal with senior Chinese government officials, including Premier Li Keqiang, to extend the deadline for new dockage limits, which were to take effect Thursday.
“We’re happy to reassure Canadian farmers that at the Sept. 1 deadline we will be able to continue with the current regime of canola and we (will) work together very closely towards a long-term solution in the coming days and weeks ahead,” Trudeau said.
The two countries disagree on the level of dockage — foreign material such as weeds, other crops and waste — that should be considered acceptable in Canada’s canola exports to China, which buys about four million tonnes of canola seed from Canada annually, making canola the largest Canadian export to China at $2 billion annually. China, which the largest-single customer for Canadian canola, consuming 40 per cent of Canada’s canola exports. had given Canada until Thursday to cut the level of foreign material in its deliveries by more than half — from 2.5 per cent to one per cent.
“This issue has gone for six and a half years now. We’ve seen the involvement of ministers and prime ministers before — when Gerry Ritz was (agriculture) minister. What we’ve seen in the last hours, days and weeks is that the level of intensity on the issue has been increased and the focus on achieving a solution has been increased,” Innes said.
“Their timely intervention means that a science-based solution is in sight. Those discussions have been more focused on achieving a long-term, pragmatic and effective solution for the Chinese concerns about blackleg.”
Source : Leaderpost