Seoul | Reuters –– South Korea has halted imports of Canadian beef after Canada on Friday confirmed its first case of mad cow disease since 2011, the South Korean agriculture ministry said. South Korea was seeking more information about the outbreak and discussing public safety with relevant authorities, the ministry said in a statement. The […] Read more
S. Korea blocks Canadian beef again over BSE case
Labour minister says CP, engineers urged to bargain
Vancouver | Reuters — Federal Labour Minister Kellie Leitch on Wednesday said she was encouraging the parties at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to bargain, but declined to speculate on what Ottawa might do if workers went out on strike. CP said its managers will be ready to take over if the railway’s engineers and conductors […] Read more
U.S. may lower cholesterol’s level of threat to health
Washington | Reuters — A U.S. advisory panel reviewing national dietary guidelines has decided to drop its caution against eating cholesterol-laden food, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. At a December meeting, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee discussed its decision to no longer deem cholesterol a “nutrient of concern,” according to the Post. The last set […] Read more
Brazil’s grain traders fear monopoly if rail merger allowed
Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Brazil’s grain industry association, Abiove, said on Monday the takeover of the main railway operator America Latina Logistica (ALL) by Rumo, the logistic arm of the biggest sugar and ethanol producer Cosan, could create a monopoly and hurt competition. Cade, Brazil’s antitrust agency, is due to rule Wednesday on the […] Read more
CME expects US$10M savings per year closing futures pits
New York | Reuters –– CME Group will save US$10 million (C$12.4 million) per year after it shuts nearly all of its futures pits in New York and Chicago, a spokesman said Thursday, as the world’s biggest futures exchange pushes ahead with cost-cutting measures. While that may be a significant saving in a single step, […] Read more
U.S. lawmaker says Canada, Japan must cut farm tariffs
Washington | Reuters — Canada and Japan must open their markets to farm imports under a Pacific trade pact, the chairman of a congressional committee responsible for trade said on Thursday, adding that any country that cannot meet the deal’s ambitious goals should drop out. In prepared remarks, House ways and means committee chairman Paul […] Read more
Scoular reported hit by $17M fraud
Reuters — Scoular Co., a U.S. grain trading and handling firm, was swindled out of more than US$17 million through an international email scheme, a company official confirmed on Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is probing the fraud, which took place in June, a company spokesperson said in a telephone interview. The […] Read more
Australian trade minister sees TPP deal just weeks away
Sydney | Reuters –– Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said an ambitious Pacific trade pact could be reached within weeks after years of contentious negotiations. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement includes 12 countries covering 40 per cent of the world economy, among them the U.S., Canada, Australia and Japan. Last month, U.S. Trade Representative […] Read more
Obama proposes creation of stand-alone U.S. food safety agency
Reuters — U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed bringing together the country’s food safety operations into one agency to better monitor food quality in a move that would reshape the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The proposal was put forward as part of the President’s 2016 budget plan. The new agency would combine the food […] Read more
Argentina to restrict wheat export permits if low prices paid
Buenos Aires | Reuters –– Wheat exporters who buy the grain from Argentina’s farmers will not be issued permits if they pay the growers significantly less than the international price for the crop, the government said Friday. The announcement, by Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, followed complaints by local producers that government restrictions on wheat exports […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
