Canadian food exporters brace for change

MADAWASKA – Crossing the border with vegetables wasn’t much different for Paul Thibodeau on Friday from any other crossing day, but change is coming and the Canadian businessman knows it.

He expects new U.S. regulations on food going across the border into the United States will mean much more paperwork.

Crossing the border with his produce was easy before, he said Friday. He had one list of all the vegetables loaded into his pickup truck. The declaration was made at the U.S. Customs port of entry.

In the future, he said, he will have to file notice of his deliveries by e-mail, two hours before he attempts to cross the border. He will have to send one e-mail for each customer.

Under the federal Bioterrorism Act, food shippers now have to register all their products with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The regulations, which took effect Friday, are an attempt to protect Americans from food terrorism.

“I know that I will have to give advance notice for deliveries to each customer and each item the customer wants,” Thibodeau said in French by telephone Friday afternoon. “It may stop some businesses from doing business.

“It will be hard for small-business people like me,” he said. “Larger companies have people who handle paperwork, but I must do my own.”

Thibodeau, who runs a small vegetable business in Green River, New Brunswick, about 10 miles from Madawaska, crosses the border three times a week with vegetables for Madawaska restaurants.

With members of his family and 10 employees, Thibodeau raises potatoes and some vegetables. He also buys vegetables and prepares them for restaurants.

Included are ready-cut French fries, prepared vegetables like carrots and green peppers, ready-to-mix coleslaw and salads.

Agriculture Canada held meetings last week for people like Thibodeau who export food to the United States.

“It’s an important business for us,” Thibodeau said of his Madawaska-area connections. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and now I will need a broker.

“I have no choice in any of this,” he said. “This is all because of what has happened in the United States and terrorism.”