(Alice McFarlane/farmnewsNOW Staff)

By Alice McFarlane

CANOLA

No news is bad news in canola dispute

May 3, 2019 | 1:44 PM

The Canola Council of Canada provided an update to farmers on trade with China during an early morning webinar.

There haven’t been any new developments as canola seed shipments to China have stalled and Chinese buyers remain unwilling to purchase Canadian canola seed. Canola oil exports continue but are being watched closely and canola meal shipments remain unaffected.

The council provided clarification on the changes to the Advance Payment Program announced this week by the federal government. Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) administers the program.

CCGA CEO Rick White said all advances for this year will be included in the changes.

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“If you’re talking about a current 2019 advance which was taken as of April 1 under the old rules, the announcement will apply to the 2019 program in its entirety,” White said. “We’ll have a lot of work to adjust the advances that are already taken out under 2019 and adjust them to the rules that were just announced.”

Canola Council of Canada President Jim Everson said they remain committed to dealing with the issue on a technical level and still want to meet with Chinese officials.

“In our minds it’s way more than a disappointment. We believe China really has an obligation after they’ve made these determinations that they’ve indicated to us about the quality of canola, they have an obligation to come forward and engage with us about that,” Everson said. “The fact that they’ve not taken up on that offer is very much on the minds of the (canola) working group.

“There’s been a lot of discussion in the media about action the government of Canada can take such as the World Trade Organization relief measures and that sort of thing. One thing I’ll say is that all those options are on the table in terms of discussion at the working group level,” Everson said.

International Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr also participated in this morning’s webinar. He said the government will consider all options when dealing with the trade dispute.

“It’s not as if we are without options and without ways which we can communicate ourselves and through our allies to the Chinese, but we also have to be mindful of the second step and the third step,” Carr said. “It’s tempting to say ‘Let’s give them a deadline’ but then we have to ask the question what happens when the deadline comes and goes. We have to play chess here not checkers. We are thinking through every possible scenario.”

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF