Canada’s Agriculture Minister has announced the signing of an agreement that will allow the immediate resumption of the export of Canadian pork products into China.

Last spring China banned the import of pork products from H1N1 affected countries.

In December the ban on Canadian pork was lifted and since then Canadian and Chinese officials have been working to develop supplementary certification requirements and re-certify Canadian plants.

Yesterday in Paris, as part of his agricultural trade mission to the OIE and Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz announced the signing of an agreement that will allow the flow of Canadian pork into China to resume.

I’m pleased to announce today that Canadian pork products will be back on Chinese grocery store shelves now that Canada has secured the first certification agreement to allow pork imports into China from an H1N1 affected country.

This week China agreed to supplementary certification requirements that will allow for the immediate export of pork from all provinces of Canada.

This agreement comes after many high level interventions including Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent mission to China and significant negotiations that recognize OIE standards.

The dedicated efforts by our new Market Access Secretariat created just over one year ago can not be matched on this file.

When this issue first arose they immediately had boots on the ground and today we’re seeing the results of their steadfast negotiation skills.

We’re pleased to continue our strong and respectful working relationship with China.

Access to the Chinese pork market valued at some 45 million dollars is excellent news for Canadian pork producers and underlies the importance of recognizing fair science based standards in trade.

Ritz says Canada has the quality and consistency of supply China is looking for and he’s confident that once Chinese consumers get a taste for Canada’s top quality pork it will be tough for someone else to bump us out of the market.

Source: Farmscape.Ca