Chinese customs on Thursday warns of particularly serious quarantine problems on canola imported from Canada and said it will further strengthen quarantine inspection on the crop.
In an announcement posted online on Thursday, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said that China has suspended customs clearance of all canola that that was already in transit from March 1, 2019, from Canadian farming company Richardson International Limited and other related companies. It is not clear when the suspension will be lifted.
Further quarantine restrictions will be carried out on canola imports from Canada, the announcement said. All local customs agencies are requested to focus on plant diseases, weed inspection and laboratory testing, and must report their inspection results to the GAC in a timely manner.
The GAC will conduct risk assessments based on local customs' test results for pests and diseases and adjust the early warning measures in due time.
China has canceled a Canadian farming company's registration to ship canola to China after Chinese customs detected "dangerous pests" several times on imported Canada canola, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on Wednesday.
"Recently, disease germs including the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans, Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola, which causes leaf black spot, and weeds including Avena ludoviciana Durien, Xanthium sp, and Amaranthus palmeri had been detected on Canadian canola imports by Huangpu, Dalian, Nanning and Shenzhen customs," the GAC announcement said. GAC informed the Canadian Food Inspection Agency about the situation.
China's customs agencies are strict with canola imports to be responsible for the health of the Chinese people and environment, and urged Canadian firms to "respect China's laws," according to analysts.
