Panama really likes the aroma of Canadian Christmas trees

CFIA-led quality management program key to Nova Scotia and Quebec exports

While many of us are now busy with the holiday season, Sandra Risser and a number of her Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) colleagues were getting their first sniff of Christmas way back in August.

For Risser, and fellow inspectors from South West Nova Scotia, Christmas begins with the aroma of balsam fir trees, and a unique inspection program destined to help secure the export of thousands of Christmas trees to Panama.

"I guess, in one sense, our Christmas season does start when we're out in the woodlots, in August, doing our pre-season inspection, and checking traps for LDD moth," says Risser, who along with other inspectors—in both Nova Scotia and Quebec—helps to carry out a quality management program unlike any other in the Canadian Christmas tree industry.

"We're doing our part to make sure these plant pests don't hitch-hike a ride to Panama for Christmas."

Panama: an interesting market

Christmas trees are big business. It's a $52 million industry in Nova Scotia alone, with 1.3 million trees shipped to markets domestically, in the United States, and off shore.

And surprisingly, seven out of every 100 Nova Scotia balsam fir trees are destined for Panama. That's a total of 92,382 trees leaving the port of Halifax. Another 10,767 trees, from Quebec, are exported to the same Latin American market.

"Panama sure likes our balsam fir trees, but the market is only open to us because of the quality management program we've put in place through close cooperation with Panama's Ministry of Agriculture Development (MIDA)," says Malcolm Pelley, a regional plant protection officer who assists in coordinating the Panama agreement.

"There's no question, this is a great example of cooperation between industry and government. With the help of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Global Affairs Canada, we are giving great support to our producers and the economy."

Panama protocol

• A pre-season woodlot inspection by CFIA: inspectors not only check traps for LDD moth, but also the records of growers, making sure they are monitoring for the quarantined pest. In addition, CFIA inspectors check trees for the presence of four additional plant pests.

Christmas cheer for growers

Matt Priest, from Northern Lights Christmas Tree Farms, near Truro, Nova Scotia, has been selling balsam fir trees to Panama since this special export relationship began eight years ago. He's not surprised when asked, why Christmas trees for Panama?

"Panama might seem to be an unlikely market, but when you consider the amount of trade between Panama, Canada and the United States it's not that surprising," says Priest.

"There's a relatively large Catholic population in Panama, one that's obviously influenced by the way North Americans celebrate Christmas, and the importance of the Christmas tree."

Priest is very happy with the volume of business that he and other producers share with Panama importers, even if they have to work a little harder to sustain the relationship.

"Complying with this quality management program for Panama does make doing business a little more complicated but it's really like an insurance policy for us. We know that once our trees have been loaded and shipped, we can have every confidence they will make it all the way to those shopping centres in Panama City."

Priest also points out there's at least one other reason the Panamanians like our balsam fir trees. "They have a very fragrant aroma."