Fewer restrictions on trade with China could bring Canada additional $1 billion a year from GMO canola sale

Almaty. December 6. Silkroadnews - Fewer restrictions on trade with China could bring Canada additional $1 billion a year from GMO canola sale, CTV channel reported.
“More open trade with China could mean an extra $1 billion in trade a year for Canadian canola (note by Silkroadnews: canola is a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada from the rapeseed plant) producers, according to industry group SaskCanola,” the report said.
“Canola producers in Canada currently trade $2.7 billion with China, with tariffs of about nine per cent on canola seed and five per cent on canola meal,” the report quoted saying by Janice Thronberg, executive director of SaskCanola.
With this she also noted that with the revision of the North American Free Trade Agreement the diversification of Canadian trade partners will be important.
It was expected that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would start negotiations on free trade during his trade-focused trip to China this week, but these discussions were delayed.
China has expressed concern on the Canadian canola infected with fungus. In 2009 the country imposed import restrictions and threatened to increase barriers in 2016 before agreeing to consider a new agreement on import standards.
According to Lixi Jiang, a professor at the Institute of Crop Science at Zhejiang University in China, the past and current restrictions imposed by China are more likely to be related to politics.
“We want to protect our own farmers from importation. The Canadian (canola) has relatively good quality and a low price, so I think it is more or less a political question,” Jiang said.
According to a study published this year by the Canola Council of Canada, Canadian rapeseed contributes $26.7 billion to the Canadian economy.