Last Updated on 2020/12/06
Amid the diplomatic war between Huawei and the United States, China has suspended imports of meat products from Canada over claims of forged customs documents.
The Chinese Embassy in Canada announced the measure in a statement released Wednesday, which stated that the decision was taken after the discovery of “ractopamine residues”, a drug used as an additive in feed, in a shipment sent by the company Canadian Frigo Royal on June 3rd.
Ractopamine is prohibited in China and Europe, but its use is permitted in Canada and the United States.
China immediately suspended the license for Frigo Royal’s imports, but according to the Chinese embassy, a following investigation by the Canadian authorities uncovered another 188 falsified veterinary certificates for exports of meat products.
Beijing has requested the Canadian government to cease issuing health certificates for meat exported after June 25, effectively cutting Canadian suppliers.
The Chinese embassy statement says “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”.
China is Canada’s second largest trading partner, after the United States.
According to MIT, China has imported 292 million dollars of pork-based products from Canada, a figure that has also grown due to the African swine flu in China that is claiming an incredible number of deaths of animals, which began in August last year and responsible for the death of about 22% of the entire pig population in the country.
Canada commented on the story as “arbitrary”.
Image source: wikimedia
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