Home NEWS Canada takes its canola case against China to WTO | CBC News

Canada takes its canola case against China to WTO | CBC News

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Canada takes its canola case against China to WTO | Bioreports News

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Canada has requested a formal meeting with China before the World Trade Organization to resolve a Chinese ban on Canadian canola shipments.

International Trade Minister Jim Carr continues to back Canada’s food inspection system

Mike Blanchfield · The Canadian Press ·

A canola field in full bloom. Canada has requested a formal meeting with China at the World Trade Organization to resolve a Chinese ban on Canadian canola shipments. (Nalidsa/Shutterstock)

Canada has requested a formal meeting with China before the World Trade Organization to resolve a Chinese ban on Canadian canola shipments.

International Trade Minister Jim Carr announced Friday that Canada is seeking a bilateral consultation at the WTO because the two sides have been unable to resolve the issue.

“Our government is committed to rules-based international trade and has continued to advocate on behalf of Canadian farming families since China raised concerns over Canadian canola earlier this year,” said Carr in a statement. 

“In order to make progress, Canada is seeking bilateral consultations at the WTO, which is the usual next step when direct engagement does not lead to resolution.”

Carr added that the federal government is standing by Canada’s “robust food inspection system” and will continue to keep farmers and producers informed of progress at the WTO.

China’s decision to ban canola shipments is part of disintegrating relations with Canada following the RCMP’s December arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request.

Nine days later, China imprisoned two Canadian men, ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor, on suspicion of spying in what is widely viewed as an act of retaliation for Meng’s arrest.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this week that China uses arbitrary detentions as a tool to achieve its international and domestic political goals.

That comment sparked the ire of a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry on Friday, who reiterated Beijing’s position that Meng’s arrest had no basis in law and that Canada was acting as an American pawn.

With files from CBC News

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