Canada Says China's Ban on Canadian Canola Seed Lifted
May 18 2022 - 05:46PM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--Canada said Wednesday that Chinese authorities have
lifted a yearslong ban on canola seed imports from two of Canada's
biggest grain handlers.
The ban dates back to March 2019, in the aftermath of Canada's
role in the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co.'s chief financial
officer, Meng Wanzhou. Ms. Meng was arrested by Canadian
authorities in late 2018, at the U.S.'s behest, on allegations that
she and Huawei violated U.S. sanctions on Iran.
The U.S. Justice Department agreed in September to allow Ms.
Meng to leave Canada--where she faced an extradition hearing--for
her home in China, after she admitted to some wrongdoing in
exchange for prosecutors deferring and later dropping wire and bank
fraud charges.
Canada's ministers of agriculture and trade said in a joint
statement that, based on their information, two Canada-based
companies--Richardson International and Glencore-controlled Viterra
Inc.--can resume shipping canola seed to China.
"We welcome this decision to remove the restrictions," the
Canadian ministers said.
Representatives from the Chinese embassy in Ottawa and Viterra
did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for
Richardson, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said Canadian officials
informed the company that the ban on China-bound canola seed
shipments was lifted.
Back in 2019, Chinese authorities said they revoked the export
licenses belonging to Richardson and Viterra after the discovery of
pests in canola-seed shipments bound for China. Canadian officials
said at the time inspectors reviewed the affected canola seed twice
and both times found it met international health standards.
Chinese authorities also detained and later charged two Canadian
men in late 2018 on espionage charges in a move that Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau repeatedly linked to Ms. Meng's arrest. The two men,
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, returned to Canada last fall, at
the same time as Ms. Meng's release.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2022 18:31 ET (22:31 GMT)
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