TORONTO: The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) was privatized in 2011, and the change is still generating questions in both Canada and the U.S.
A group of Canadian and US nonprofit and trade organizations has published new information that will help commercial grain handlers and buyers market grain and seed between the two countries.
The Canada-U.S. Grain and Seed Trade Task Group has posted options for commercial handlers to obtain a phytosanitary certificate for U.S., Canadian or commingled grain shipments to third countries, loaded at elevators in either country.
The 2011 changes, which went into effect in 2012, create new opportunities for U.S. and Canadian producers and traders to move wheat, durum and barley across the border. But that grain remains subject to customs and import regulations, such as phytosanitary requirements. The Canada-U.S. Grain and Seed Trade Task Group has been working to help producers and traders work through those regulations.
“The new rules provide more transparency about the origin of grain, but they can be complex,” says Tyler Bjornson, interim executive director of the Canadian Grains Council. “Now, grain handlers and buyers can reference the new commercial module and share their questions and comments on the website.”
Gary Martin, president and CEO of the North American Export Grain Association, says in the statement, “This new information should answer many of the questions that commercial traders had following the open-market transition about cross-border trade opportunities in both countries.”
