Three pork producers had imports halted after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) informed Beijing it had uncovered fake health certificates being used in some meat products. China has confirmed a batch contains residue of ractopamine, a drug which accelerates growth that is banned in China, Russia and the European Union. As reported by CBC, the batch reached Nanjing and came from Frigo Royal.
The Chinese Embassy said in a statement: “China has taken urgent preventive measures and requested the Canadian government to suspend the issuance of certificates for meat exported to China.
“We hope the Canadian side would attach great importance to this incident, complete the investigation as soon as possible and take effective measures to ensure the safety of food exported to China in a more responsible manner.”
Authorities have said they will open all containers sent from Canada.
Canadian Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said: “This incident is specific to export certificates to China. Export certificates to other countries are not affected.”
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China has also banned a Canadian firm, Richardson International, after finding canola seeds tainted with an insect infestation.
Ottawa said tests on canola did not find anything of concern, it exported $2.5billion (£1.5billion) to China in 2018.
From January to April, Canada exported $310million (£185million) of pork to China.
The recent developments come as tensions between the two states continue to heat up.
In December, two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained by authorities.
Officials in the ruling Chinese Communist Party accused Mr Kovrig of stealing state secrets he obtained by Mr Spavor.
The arrests were seen by commentators as a response to the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou.
Ms Meng faces extradition to the United States over alleged fraud charges and breaches on US sanctions on Iran.
Her hearing is not due to start until January.
China-Canada relations have often been tense, though Ottawa did recognise the communist government after the Civil War, relations broke down as a result of the Korean War.
In 2006, the government of then Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave the Dalai Lama honorary Canadian citizenship.