Canada suspends meat exports to China

Canada suspends meat exports to China

According to Valor, Canada suspended all meat exports to China last Tuesday (06/26). Through an investigation, China discovered the existence of forged certificates in some consignments of Canadian pork.

Meat trading between the two countries is valued at roughly US$0.5bn a year. Recently, China banned imports of Canadian canola seeds, restricted imports of pork products from certain slaughterhouses, and arrested two Canadian citizens for reasons of national security.

According to a statement on the website of the Chinese embassy in Canada, China-based investigations identified “obvious safety gaps” in Canadian exported meat inspections. The investigation was initiated after Chinese customs agents found traces of a feed additive called ractopamine, which is banned in China, in a Canadian frozen pork shipment.

The Chinese embassy said the investigation found that the veterinary certificate attached to the frozen pork was fake, and that the Canadian investigators found other forged certificates.

The Chinese embassy in Canada stated that “in order to protect the safety of Chinese consumers, China has taken urgent preventive measures and has asked the Canadian government to suspend the issuing of certificates for meat exported to China.”

The Board of Pork in Canada said that this preventive measure was not taken “because of worry about food safety, but because of the misuse of the country’s reputation as a safe supplier of quality products.” Groups interested in the meat industry are in contact with Canadian authorities, discussing their next steps.

The tables below use data from Statics Canada to show pork exports from Canada (amounts in thousands of US dollars):

Top 10 exports of Canadian pork (amounts in thousands of US dollars)

Source: Valor/Dow Jones Newswires

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