China halts Canadian meat shipments over bogus documents
- As many as 188 ‘counterfeit’ veterinary health certificates found after inspections uncover unaccepted feed residue in Canadian pork bound for China
- Canadian Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau confirms the discovery of ‘inauthentic’ export documents
China said on Tuesday it will turn away all meat shipped from Canada, just days before China and the United States sit down to work on settling a trade dispute that has also caught Canada in the crossfire.
China launched an investigation after inspections found residues of a feed additive not accepted by China in Canadian pork, the Chinese embassy in Canada said in a statement on its website.
That probe revealed as many as 188 “counterfeit” veterinary health certificates, the statement said, and the existence of “obvious safety loopholes”.
“In order to protect the safety of Chinese consumers, China has taken urgent preventive measures and requested the Canadian government to suspend the issuance of certificates for meat exported to China,” the statement 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.