China has added Viterra to Richardson International, banning both from marketing canola to China.
“Today (the Chinese) are alleging another new pest of concern. We are quite perplexed. How can the quality of our canola suddenly change?” said Brian Innes, vice-president for public affairs with the Canola Council.
Besides, how can insects in stored canola survive this year's Prairie winter?
China’s customs authority said earlier this month it had found hazardous pests in canola imports from Canada and revoked the export registration of Richardson International.
Richardson has said its canola meets regulatory requirement.
The Chinese say they found pests in shipments from Richardson and Viterra
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he takes the bans seriously, mentioned political tensions over the U.S. request to extradite and said Canada may send a high-level delegation to China to try to sort out the canola issues.
Canada responded to the U.S. request by arresting the chief financial officer of Huawei, an internet hardware company considered to be a world leader. The U.S. alleges the woman, a daughter of the Huawei founder, is involved in breaking a U.S. ban on trading certain technology products to Iran.
. China has been accounting for 40 per cent of Canada’s canola exports.
