Companies hurt while inventories waylaid at ports by CBSA rules

Newly expanded rules at the Canada Border Services Agency to test for fumes in containers arriving at ports across the country are putting businesses — and Canadian trade — under threat, business owners say.

The backlog of containers docked at ports across the country has been growing since the CBSA added formaldehyde to the list of fumigants its employees must test for before the marine containers can travel to their final destinations.

Port authorities say many more containers have come up positive since formaldehyde was listed in June, making them too dangerous for examination by inspectors and leaving their cargo stuck at port for weeks, instead of days.

"Sales orders are being cancelled because goods are not being delivered as per the sales contracts. Canadian importers are suffering, Canada's trade is suffering," Ruth Snowden, executive director of the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association, told CBC News.

CBSA regulations dictate that containers that test positive have to be ventilated until fumigants reach an acceptable level. Freight companies, however, are demanding the government agency reconsider the rules in order to get the containers moving again, and to keep their customers in business.

One woman who owns a coffee roasting business in London, Ont., said that if her beans — which were supposed to be delivered from South America three weeks ago — arrive spoiled, they will ruin her business too.

"I can't sell coffee, I don't have revenue," said Maria Fiallos, owner of Las Chicas del Café. "I don't have revenue for my Canadian business, I don't have revenue for the coffee growers in Nicaragua."

Another business owner, Mike Calnan, is still waiting for a shipment of antique vehicles from Britain that were scheduled to appear at the Ottawa air show on Canada Day. He said their absence was an incredible disappointment after he put almost a year's work into getting them to Canada.

Both Calnan's and Fiallos' shipments are sitting idle at the Port of Halifax, where almost every container that has arrived in the last three weeks and has been targeted for testing has come up positive for formaldehyde — a chemical commonly found in glue and used in everything from cars to furniture.

"We're very concerned about it and we urge the CBSA to work to improve the process to basically minimize the delays," said the Halifax port's manager of business development, Patrick Bohan.

The CBSA has said it is looking into new "highly sensitive detection technology" that may make the testing process more efficient, but that the health and safety of its employees is its top priority.

Some experts say formaldehyde could lead to cancer if people are exposed to very small amounts over long periods of time, as evidenced in experiments with animals.

"At no time will the CBSA compromise the health and safety of its employees. CBSA has the appropriate measures in place to protect its employees from any possible exposure to hazardous chemicals," the CBSA agency said in a statement this week.

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