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 The firm in question is Frigo Royal Inc, the agency said on its
Wechat account. Ractopamine is used in some countries to make leaner
pigs but China does not allow its use or tolerate residues in
imported meat.
China will also strengthen inspections for the residue in all pork
imports from Canada, the notice from the General Administration of
Customs said. Quebec-based Frigo Royal did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.
China halted pork imports from two other Canadian producers, Olymel
LP and Drummond Export, in April because of labeling problems. It
has also blocked imports of canola.
"It's definitely not good news," Canadian Agriculture Minister
Marie-Claude Bibeau told reporters, saying food inspectors were
investigating the matter.
"My message to the exporters and the industry is to be very vigilant
to make sure they respect all the rules of our export agreement with
China," she added.
Relations between China and Canada nosedived last December after
Vancouver police detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer
of Huawei Technologies Co, on a U.S. arrest warrant. Beijing is
demanding her return.
Canadian officials said this month they had been warned by China
that it would step up inspections of meat imports after "recent
cases of non-compliance" in pork shipments.
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The Chinese customs notice said authorities in the port of Nanjing
had detected ractopamine residue in a batch of Frigo Royal pork on
June 3.
China had previously warned Canada that it would open all containers
of Canadian meat and, in some cases, inspect 100% of the contents.
Many Canadian farmers started raising pigs without ractopamine in
2013 to boost exports to China. Pork exporters, feed manufacturers
and hog farms enroll in a government program that certifies pork was
produced without ractopamine, said Gary Stordy of the Canadian Pork
Council farmer group.
Elanco Animal Health Inc, the manufacturer of Paylean, the
commercial name for a ractopamine feed ingredient, does not sell the
product in Canada, although there are other ractopamine
manufacturers, spokeswoman Keri McGrath said.
In the first four months of 2019, China was Canada's third-biggest
pork export market, taking in C$310 million ($231.41 million) of
pork, according to Statistics Canada.
(Additional reporting by Dominique Patton in Beijing, David
Ljunggren in Ottawa and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by Alistair
Bell and Tom Brown)
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