Wednesday, May 18, 2022

China lifts canola ban on Richardson and Viterra

China has lifted its ban on canola from Richardson and Viterra three years after they were imposed in the wake of Canada’s detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Canada acted on an application from the U.S. to extradite her on charges of selling banned items to Iran. That was in December, 2018; in March, 2019, the Chinese announced the bans on Richardson and Viterra.


The United States has abandoned its extradition proceedings against Wanzhou and she was freed to leave Canada last year.


“This is a positive step forward, restoring full trade in canola with China and ensuring that all Canadian exporters are treated equally by the Chinese administration,” said Jim Everson, president of the Canola Council of Canada. “We will continue efforts to nurture and maintain a predictable, rules-based trade environment.”


Everson thanked federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, International Trade Minister Mary Ng and trade officials for their support.

Before the bans, Canada sold  4.87 million tonnes iof canola to China and that was reduced to 1.54 million tonnes and from $2;8 billion to $800 million.


Canada was able to market canola to other countries and, in fact, has swept granaries clean before planting this spring.