Canada has initiated talks with the Centre to allow import of canola oil under the same brand name. The Food Safety and Standards Authority in August stopped the import of vegetable oils under any particular brand name.

The authority insisted that every container of canola oil must be labelled as “imported rapeseed-low erucic acid oil”. Importers were told to include “edible vegetable oil” on the list of ingredients and put it on the label.

Speaking to BusinessLine Bruce Jowett, Vice-President (Market Development), Canola Council of Canada, said a series of meetings had been scheduled with the officials of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ministries this week to sort out the labelling issue.

“World over the oil is imported under Canola brand as people are more familiar with the health benefits attached with the brand. We will try to convince the Indian government that canola is different from the oil extracted from conventional rapeseed,” he said.

The Canadian government has taken special initiatives to promote the oil in newer markets as it intends to increase contribution of canola trade to the economy from the current $19.3 billion. Canada’s export of canola oil to the US was $3.5 billion in the crop year that ended in July, while shipments to Japan were $1.2 billion.

China demand peaks

Jowett said China is the fastest growing market for canola oil and it imported $2.9 billion till July this year. While China imported 4 million tonnes of canola seeds for crushing and 700,000 tonnes of oil, India on an average imports about 70,000 tonnes of canola oil a year. India has banned import of genetically modified organism such as canola seeds for processing in the country.

Grown largely in western Canada, canola acreage touched 20 million acres with the production peaking at 18 million tonnes (mt) in 2013 due to favourable weather conditions. The country expects output to remain flat next year at this year’s level of 15 mt.

“With the increasing awareness of health benefits and rising standards of living, global demand for canola oil is set to touch 26 mt by 2025,” he said. To meet this demand, Canada is developing new hybrid and genetic seeds to raise the yield from 34 bushels (22.67 kg makes a bushel) an acre to 52 bushels.

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