The Canadian Wheat Growers are calling for “immediate intervention” on the part of the federal government to get grain shipments moving through the Port of Vancouver as a strike by government workers enters its second week..That’s because grain needs to be inspected before it can be exported. Along with CRA tax collectors and Canada Customs workers, Canada Food inspection agents are among the 120,000 workers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada which walked off the job April 19..Grain exports are a major part of the Canadian economy, worth almost $7 billion a year in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. The importance of those exports only increased in light of the war in Ukraine and tightened global supply..Farmers don’t get paid if grain doesn’t get sold, the Wheat Growers said in a news release. And, in fact, they can wrack up huge penalties on the order of tens of thousands of dollars per day for failing to meet contractual obligations..The issue is particularly acute at seeding time, which represents the largest single cash outlay of the season. If farmers can’t get paid, they can’t plant crops. And if they can’t get inspected they can’t be loaded on ships, which happens at the Cascadia Terminal in Vancouver..According to Wheat Growers’ President Gunter Jochum: “A strike is one thing, but to intentionally target a port that's critical to the lives of grain farmers and to the entire Canadian economy is the height of reckless irresponsibility. It’s time for the federal government to intervene. The Wheat Growers are calling on the federal government to immediately amend the Canada Grain Act to authorize third party weighing and inspection of vessels leaving Canadian waters. Let’s get grain moving and protect our sector.” . Gunter Jochum .Under the group’s proposal, inspection and weighing services would be performed by third parties already working at the ports. They're there already because many overseas customers — and their governments — demand independent third-party inspections..According to the Wheat Growers, the third parties could easily be accredited to perform inspection services and simply audited by a government agency on a regular basis. That's happening in many other countries, it added. .Canadian farmers pay more than $60 million per year to have CFIA staff inspect their grain. More than 70% of the vessels leaving the country only require third party results; Canadian farmers are unnecessarily paying for a double inspection, Jochum noted. He previously agreed it would take legislative changes to affect the change. .The initiative has been given new impetus — and urgency — by the ongoing strike..“It is time to protect critical export transactions and allow Canadian farmers to compete internationally without antiquated inspection rules and the threat of strike disruption.”.According to StatsCan, the largest export markets for Canadian grain in 2021 were China ($663 million), Japan ($541 million), Indonesia ($516 million), Peru ($437 million) and Colombia ($415 million).
The Canadian Wheat Growers are calling for “immediate intervention” on the part of the federal government to get grain shipments moving through the Port of Vancouver as a strike by government workers enters its second week..That’s because grain needs to be inspected before it can be exported. Along with CRA tax collectors and Canada Customs workers, Canada Food inspection agents are among the 120,000 workers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada which walked off the job April 19..Grain exports are a major part of the Canadian economy, worth almost $7 billion a year in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. The importance of those exports only increased in light of the war in Ukraine and tightened global supply..Farmers don’t get paid if grain doesn’t get sold, the Wheat Growers said in a news release. And, in fact, they can wrack up huge penalties on the order of tens of thousands of dollars per day for failing to meet contractual obligations..The issue is particularly acute at seeding time, which represents the largest single cash outlay of the season. If farmers can’t get paid, they can’t plant crops. And if they can’t get inspected they can’t be loaded on ships, which happens at the Cascadia Terminal in Vancouver..According to Wheat Growers’ President Gunter Jochum: “A strike is one thing, but to intentionally target a port that's critical to the lives of grain farmers and to the entire Canadian economy is the height of reckless irresponsibility. It’s time for the federal government to intervene. The Wheat Growers are calling on the federal government to immediately amend the Canada Grain Act to authorize third party weighing and inspection of vessels leaving Canadian waters. Let’s get grain moving and protect our sector.” . Gunter Jochum .Under the group’s proposal, inspection and weighing services would be performed by third parties already working at the ports. They're there already because many overseas customers — and their governments — demand independent third-party inspections..According to the Wheat Growers, the third parties could easily be accredited to perform inspection services and simply audited by a government agency on a regular basis. That's happening in many other countries, it added. .Canadian farmers pay more than $60 million per year to have CFIA staff inspect their grain. More than 70% of the vessels leaving the country only require third party results; Canadian farmers are unnecessarily paying for a double inspection, Jochum noted. He previously agreed it would take legislative changes to affect the change. .The initiative has been given new impetus — and urgency — by the ongoing strike..“It is time to protect critical export transactions and allow Canadian farmers to compete internationally without antiquated inspection rules and the threat of strike disruption.”.According to StatsCan, the largest export markets for Canadian grain in 2021 were China ($663 million), Japan ($541 million), Indonesia ($516 million), Peru ($437 million) and Colombia ($415 million).
