As they begin to harvest what may be one of the largest canola crops on record, many farmers are growing increasingly concerned over the prospect¹ of a drastically smaller export market as China stands firm on its plan to stall Canadian exports of the seed.

随着加拿大农民即将可能收获破纪录的油菜籽产量，很多农民开始对出口市场缩小的前景越发担忧，因为中国立场坚定从而将拖延了加拿大油菜籽的出口。

China – Canada’s largest canola-seed customer, importing an average of four million tonnes per year – is preparing to implement² a new standard on Sept. 1 that will require the amount of extraneous³ plant material, known as dockage, in canola seed exports to make up less than 1 per cent of each shipment.

作为加拿大最大的油菜籽消费者，每年从加拿大平均进口400万吨油菜籽的中国准备在9月1号开始实行新的标准，这个新标准规定每批油菜籽出货量中杂质的比重不得超过1%.

A majority of the sales to China have already stopped ahead of the deadline, said Canola Council of Canada president Patti Miller⁴, leaving many in the industry bracing⁵ for a significant hole in the market and potentially lower prices as harvest begins.

加拿大油菜委员会主席Patti Miller称对中国的大部分出口在截止日期之前已经停止，而随着农民开始收获油菜籽，市场需求的下降将可能导致价格的降低。

The new standard would require an increased level of cleaning that Ms. Miller says would be time-consuming and more costly⁶.

Miller称中国所实行的新标准要求对油菜籽里的杂质进行更高程度的清理，这将既耗时又费钱。

About 40 per cent of Canadian canola seed exported abroad goes to China, worth a total of about $2-billion.

加拿大出口的油菜籽中有大约40%前往中国，价值约20亿美元。

Chinese officials say the new standard is designed to prevent the spread of a fungal disease known as blackleg. They also say the disagreement over canola is a scientific matter that should not be on the agenda when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits the country this week ahead of the G20 summit.

中国官员称新的标准是为了防止一种叫做黑腿病的真菌性疾病的扩散。他们还称油菜籽的争议是一个科学问题，不应该出现在总理特鲁多本周的访华议程上。