Canada Opens New Market for Seal Products in China

The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, announced during her visit to Beijing that an arrangement on new market access between Canada and China has been reached, opening up a new market for Canadian seal products. The cooperative arrangement will allow all Canadian seal products to be exported to China, including meat and oil for human consumption, effective immediately. Both sides are currently working on establishing necessary export conditions for edible seal products. China is the third largest export market of Canadian seafood products with an average of over $300 million in exports annually. Canadian seafood products rank 5th in terms of value of total China imports, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.