Canada seeks agreement with China on oat exports

Last year, China’s oat imports reached 718,000 tonnes, 3.6 times higher than in 2020, and Canadian producers would like to take part in this growing market.

Canada is one of the world’s largest oat exporters, while China is the second-largest oat importer globally. This appears to be a strong opportunity for trade relations. However, according to analytics firm OatInformation.com, Canada supplies only a negligible amount of oats to China, as Russia and Australia account for 98.7% of the country’s annual oat imports. The main barrier to Canadian exports is the lack of a phytosanitary protocol for Canadian raw oats in China, writes Robert Arnason in an article for the Canadian agricultural outlet The Western Producer.

“We can ship processed oats and seed oats, but we cannot ship raw oats,” said Shona Mathison, executive director of the Prairie Oat Growers Association.

The issue is that China wants to import raw, unprocessed oats rather than milled products. “China has massive oat-processing capacity. They want to buy raw oats to use in their own mills,” Mathison explained.

Problems surrounding the phytosanitary approval of Canadian oats in China are somewhat puzzling, as Chinese officials have not clarified what exactly is causing concern, Mathison said. From 2019 to 2025, resolving the issue was impossible for Canada’s oat industry due to poor diplomatic relations between the two countries. Following Canada’s detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, relations became strained and at times hostile.

Hope emerged for Canadian oat producers after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Beijing in mid-January. On January 16, Canada and China signed a strategic trade agreement focused on energy, rapeseed, clean energy and electric vehicles. Oats were not included in the deal, but Mathison contacted the Canadian consulate in China ahead of Carney’s trip to ensure the oat issue would be raised. She received assurances that diplomats and trade representatives would continue working on market access for Canadian oats.

According to OatInformation.com, China imported about 200,000 tonnes of oats in 2020. Last year, imports reached 718,000 tonnes, 3.6 times the 2020 level. Looking ahead, import volumes are expected to continue rising with some fluctuations, but the overall trend remains upward. “In our base-case scenario, total imports increase from 718,000 tonnes in 2025 to approximately 960,000 tonnes by 2030, even as annual growth slows compared to recent sharp increases,” OatInformation.com reports.

If this forecast proves accurate, China will gradually approach the United States in terms of oat imports and become a major force in global oat trade. Chinese importers need more oats as consumers increasingly seek nutritious and health-promoting food products.

Mathison said the Prairie Oat Growers Association will continue to engage with the federal government on the issue, as it remains a priority for the industry. “The market potential is enormous. We certainly hope we can make some progress,” she said.

Tags: China, Canada, oats