China plans to boost inspections of imported Canadian meats and meat products as bilateral trade relations deteriorate, Canadian government officials said on Tuesday, a move meat industry executives said could have “a disastrous effect” on their business.
China has already blocked imports of Canadian canola seed and temporarily suspended permits from two Canadian pork plants. Beijing is demanding Ottawa return a Chinese tech executive who is facing extradition to the United States.
A Canadian agriculture ministry notice seen by Reuters said the Canadian Embassy in Beijing had been told Chinese customs agents would open all containers of Canadian meat and meat products, and that in some cases 100% of the contents would be inspected...
The Canadian Pork Council said the inspection issue was linked to problems with supporting documents and not food safety. Still, the Canadian Meat Council (CMC), which represents major processors, urged members to “increase significantly the surveillance and compliance with all requirements” for exports.
“We cannot stress enough that the slightest ‘non-compliance’ could jeopardize our entire meat exports to China, which would have a disastrous effect on all CMC members,” it said in a message to members, seen by Reuters...
This has been excerpted from the 4 June 2019 edition of Reuters Canada.