Trade Barriers to the EU are Likely not to be Lifted in Time for Canada’s 2011 Lentil Crop

Bureaucracy takes time. Unfortunately for Canadian growers, the EU and Canada’s growers associations may not reach an agreement over acceptable levels of glyphosate residue on lentil exports to the EU before 6-12 months, not in time for the harvest and marketing of the upcoming 2011 lentil crop. The current European Union’s maximum residue limit (MRL) is 0.1 parts per million (ppm) for glyphosate in lentils entering their market, whilst in Canada and the USA levels of 4 and 5 parts per million are allowed. Although Europe only accounts for 10-20% of Canada’s lentil exports (Canadian lentil exports to Europe exceeded $110 million in 2010), it is an important trade part for North American growers and a halt to pulse trading in this direction can only give way to other market players like Australia and Turkey. Consequently we have seen a surge in requests from Europe of glypho-free lentils from other supplying countries, which previously were not competitive against Canadian prices, but are now enjoying a growing demand since there’s a shortage of glypho-free product on the market. News of the new trade barrier to Europe came less than two months after Pulse Canada announced it had resolved a longstanding market access issue with China regarding selenium residue. So what’s going to be next?