A third Canadian grain company has been issued a single notice of non-compliance by the Chinese government because of alleged pest concerns in its canola exports, a senior Agriculture Canada official says.

“(The Chinese) have given company names,” Fred Gorrell, the assistant deputy minister for international affairs for Agriculture Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) told reporters following an emergency meeting of the House agriculture committee on Tuesday.

“Two have been identified. There’s another one that might be considered. They (the Chinese) are scrutinizing their inspection and at that time if they do not get compliant, there would be other implications.”

Gorrell, who will also testify in front of the House trade committee Tuesday afternoon, declined to name the Canadian grain company “because it’s (about) non-compliance for another company.”

He said the federal government has informed all companies who have had compliance issues flagged by the Chinese government. Companies that have faced non-compliance issues, he said, should “hopefully take actions to whatever that means to them.”

In testimony Tuesday afternoon in front of the Commons international trade committee, Bibeau confirmed a third Canadian company had been issued a single notice of non-compliance. She, too, declined to identify the company.

The single notice of non-compliance, her office said late Tuesday evening,was issued in January.

Bibeau also told MPs a notice of non-compliance does not necessarily mean a company could have their export permit pulled.

iPolitics called Canadian grain companies about the matter on Tuesday. Spokespeople from Parrish & Heimbecker Limited and Louis Dreyfus Company declined to comment. Calls to G3 Canada and Cargill Canada have not yet been returned.

Canada and China are embroiled in an ongoing trade dispute over canola exports. On March 1, China pulled the export license from Canada’s largest canola exporter — Richardson International Ltd. — because of pest concerns. Since then, Chinese importers have stopped purchasing canola seed.

The Chinese government pulled the canola export license from a second Canadian grain company — Viterra Ltd. — on March 26.

Canada is the world’s largest canola exporter, with 90 per cent of the canola seed, oil and meal produced in this country exported to other markets. Forty per cent of Canada’s canola exports go to China, a market that in 2018 was valued at $2.7 billion.

Back at agriculture committee, Gorrell said China has not raised any concerns about Canadian exports beyond canola. “As of today, there has been no indications or no notice of non-compliance from China relative to any other commodity.”

Gorrell, who has previous experience dealing with China on trade issues involving Canadian canola exports in 2009 and 2016, told MPs the Chinese government first put Canada’s canola industry on notice in January.

That notice, he said, was issued after Chinese officials alleged pests had been detected in Canadian shipments. “Canadian companies were placed on a warning list to be under more stringent inspection by China,” Gorrell said.

Upon receipt of that notice, he said CFIA officials immediately undertook a “thorough analysis” to address the notice of non-compliance. Agriculture Canada contacted each named company individually to inform them of the issues flagged by the Chinese government.

To date, CFIA’s analysis has not uncovered a single positive test for pests in Canadian canola shipments, Gorrell said. “I have 100 per cent confidence,” he said when asked about the agency’s findings.

Chinese and Canadian officials remain in contact with each other. Two conference calls about technical issues have been held. CFIA has also asked for specific information about China’s alleged pest concerns.

The senior bureaucrat told MPs, in his view, the next step in resolving the dispute is to hold “face-to-face” meetings with China. That request, he said, has already been initiated.

Both the president of the CFIA Siddika Mithani and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau have written to their respected Chinese counterparts asking China to allow a high-level delegation of Canadian scientists and plant health exports be allowed to travel to China.

China has yet to approve the request, he said, but noted a Canadian and Chinese plant health expert met on the sidelines of an international plant health meeting on Tuesday, where the canola dispute was discussed.

Gorrell told reporters the Chinese official acknowledged in that sideline discussion that Canada had made the request for a delegation. “Clearly they (the Chinese) have welcomed it, but they haven’t confirmed when,” he told reporters in Ottawa.

Embassy officials, Gorrell added, will be checking-in with their Chinese counterparts daily.

Canada’s largest agriculture-trade team is based in Beijing, Gorrell said when asked whether the department had increased the number of trade commissioners on the ground in China.

He said the recent fall economic update included additional funding for trade commissioners — funding the department plans to capitalize on. “You will see more people in Beijing,” noting those additions will take time because people will need to undergo language and cultural training.

On Tuesday, Gorrell said he was “confident” a resolution to the dispute with China can be found, adding China is heavily depending on Canadian agricultural exports.

“They need our canola,” he told reporters. “That’s the other thing. All things aside, we’re the largest exporter of canola in the world. They import canola. Our exports have been going up year after year to China. They need our product.”