Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

China tells Canada to stop meat shipments over bogus documents

Published 26/06/2019, 01:59
Updated 26/06/2019, 02:00
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Piglets in Alberta farm

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Piglets in Alberta farm

By Kelsey Johnson and Rod Nickel

OTTAWA (Reuters) - China said on Tuesday it wants the Canadian government to stop allowing meat shipments to China after bogus export certificates were discovered.

The announcement comes just four days before China and the United States are due to sit down to work on settling a trade dispute that has caught Canada in the crossfire.

An investigation into Canada's export certificates has revealed as many as 188 "counterfeit" veterinary health documents and the existence of "obvious safety loopholes," the Chinese Embassy in Canada said in a statement on its website.

Canadian Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a statement that the Canadian Food and Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed it had found "inauthentic export certificates."

The Chinese Embassy, in its statement, said, "... China has taken urgent preventive measures and requested the Canadian government to suspend the issuance of certificates for meat exported to China.

"We hope the Canadian side would attach great importance to this incident, complete the investigation as soon as possible and take effective measures to ensure the safety of food exported to China in a more responsible manner," it added.

Bibeau said in her statement that the CFIA had been working closely with industry and Chinese officials on the matter.

"CFIA is investigating this technical issue and has informed appropriate law enforcement agencies. This incident is specific to export certificates to China. Export certificates to other countries are not affected," Bibeau said.

Bibeau did not say whether the CFIA would suspend the certificates, but a Canadian government source said the issue was a "technical" and not a political one, and that a "temporary suspension" may be announced.

Relations between China and Canada nosedived in December after Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co, was detained in Vancouver on a U.S. arrest warrant. She denies any wrongdoing and Beijing is demanding her return.

After Meng's arrest, China detained two Canadians and later formally charged them with espionage. Canada says the arrest of the two men was arbitrary. China has already blocked imports of Canadian canola seed.

In its statement on Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy did not link its call to suspend Canadian meat imports to the Meng case.

On Monday, Meng's lawyers urged Canada's justice minister to withdraw extradition proceedings against Meng, but received no immediate response.

Though the issue is not on the official agenda, Canada's justice minister, David Lametti, is due to meet U.S. Attorney General William Barr in Washington on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump last week told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that he was prepared to raise the case of the two detained Canadians with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he is to meet with in Japan on Saturday at the Group of 20 meeting.

The United States hopes to relaunch trade talks with China. It will be the first time Trump and Xi sit down together since trade talks between the world's two largest economies broke down in May of last year.

China bought C$310 million (£185 million) worth of Canadian pork from January through April, making it Canada's third-largest export market by value, according to official data.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported exclusively that China planned to boost inspections of imported Canadian meats and meat products.

A Canadian Agriculture Ministry notice said the Canadian Embassy in Beijing had been told that 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 move to block Canadian meat imports comes at a difficult moment for Chinese pork consumers. China's sow herd is being closely watched by the global livestock market as an epidemic of incurable African swine fever has killed millions of animals in the world's most populous country, pushing up prices.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Piglets in Alberta farm

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.