Canadian companies that ship live, frozen and processed lobster to China are on their own when it comes to a new demand that they assume liability for any COVID-19 contamination in order to access their second largest market.
Chinese customers want Canadian shippers to sign a declaration their lobster is free of COVID-19, and assume liability if it’s detected in China.
The stipulation has alarmed shippers like Osborne Burke of Victoria Co-op Fisheries, a Cape Breton company that ships frozen lobster to China.
“Absolutely under no condition would we sign anything,” he said.
Burke, who is also president of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, does not recommend members sign anything either.
Osborne Burke is the president of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance. He said a law firm is drafting a document lobster shippers will send to customers in China that asserts the safety of the product without assuming liability. (Mark Crosby/CBC)
“We would have concerns because of the potential to be open for liability under Chinese rules and regulations, [which] is scary at the best of times,” he said.
“We’re not going to ship to particular customers that require something that will place us under Chinese rules and regulations with no control after the product leaves Canada as to who’s handled it, how they’ve handled it and who can potentially contaminate it on the other side of the world.”
Global Affairs Canada not saying whether shippers should sign declaration
On Friday, the province of Nova Scotia asked Global Affairs Canada whether shippers should sign the declaration.
In an email obtained by CBC News that was sent to a provincial official, Callie Stewart of Global Affairs Canada did not provide guidance.
“At the moment, as the request came directly to the Industry from industry, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (who are the Government of Canada lead on this) have left it to the discretion of the Associations/Exporters to decide if they want to sign them or not. We are aware some Associations have already signed them,” she wrote.
The province declined comment on the matter Monday. Spokesperson Tracy Barron referred inquiries to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Most Canadian lobster sent to China comes from Nova Scotia
It’s no surprise Nova Scotia was interested. In 2019, sales of live lobster alone from Canada to China were worth $457 million, with most of that coming from Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil and Fisheries Minister Keith Colwell have travelled to China to promote lobster exports, hailing soaring sales there as a major economic success story.
The Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance has lawyers from the Atlantic Canadian law firm Cox and Palmer drafting a document lobster shippers will send to customers in China that asserts the safety of the product without assuming liability.
“We can’t wait for government. We’re hopeful that will be acceptable … Somewhere, we have to stand take a stand or push back and say this does not make any scientific sense,” said Burke.
No evidence of COVID-19 transmission in food: Canada
In her email to the province, Stewart said the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has already responded to a letter from customs officials in China asking for assurances on exported products.
“The official message is: “There is currently no scientific evidence that food or food packaging is a likely source or route of transmission of the virus,” Stewart wrote.
Burke wants the food inspection agency to provide those assurances in letters to shippers, who can then pass them on to their Chinese customers.
Increased border inspections
The demand for a COVID-19 liability declaration is the second border impediment to emerge in China in June.
Sales were rebounding after the market collapse in February 2020 because of the pandemic.
But after a COVID-19 outbreak this month was traced to a cutting board for Atlantic salmon at a food market in Beijing, Chinese authorities responded by greatly increasing random testing of imported seafood.
A worker wearing a face mask uses his mobile phone while sitting inside a container at the Xinfadi market in Beijing on June 14, 2020. Chinese authorities began testing for COVID-19 in imported food after an outbreak was traced to a cutting board used for salmon in that market. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)
That forced Nova Scotia shippers of live lobster to cancel air cargo shipments rather than risk having live lobster wait for up to 36 hours for test results.
Sources tell CBC News testing of seafood shipments sped up in the days prior to the demand for a liability declaration.
The border measures come amid rising tensions between Canada and China.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
