CHINA HALTS ALL CANADA MEAT EXPORTS
Beijing says 188 forged documents were provided to its officials
CHINA asked Canada on Tuesday to suspend all meat exports after discovering bogus veterinary health certificates attached to a batch of pork, while Canadian federal police launched a criminal probe.
The forgery allegations against Frigo Royal Inc come amid frosty relations between the two nations following Canada’s arrest of a senior Chinese telecoms executive on a United States warrant and China’s detention of two Canadian nationals in apparent retaliation.
China’s embassy, here, said a Customs investigation — launched after the discovery of traces of a banned feed additive — revealed that up to 188 forged documents had been provided to Chinese officials.
“In order to protect the safety of Chinese consumers, China has taken urgent preventive measures and requested the Canada to suspend the issuance of certificates for meat exported to China since Tuesday,” it said.
“We hope the Canadian side would attach great importance to this incident, complete the investigation as soon as possible and
take effective measures to ensure the safety of food exported to China in a more responsible manner,” it added.
A Canadian government official confirmed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had been called in to investigate.
According to Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has reached out to its Chinese counterpart for more information about the forgery allegations.
China is Canada’s third-largest export market for pork.
Bibeau noted that this issue “does not affect export certificates to other countries”.
The official Xinhua news agency earlier this month said Customs officials in Nanjing had found that recent pork shipments from Frigo Royal contained Ractopamine.