Manitoba’s agriculture minister said the province’s meat producers will be impacted after the Chinese Embassy asked Canada to suspend meat exports Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, our producers of all meat products are feeling the brunt of this,” said Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler.

In a statement to The Canadian Press, the embassy said Chinese customs inspectors found residue from a restricted feed additive, called ractopamine, in some Canadian pork products. Ractopamine is allowed in Canada, but banned in China.

"The subsequent investigation revealed that the official veterinary health certificates attached to the batch of pork exported to China were counterfeit and the number of those forgery certificates was up to 188. The Canadian side believes that this incident is criminal offence," said the statement.

"These forged certificates were sent to the Chinese regulatory authorities through Canadian official certificate notification channel, which reflects that the Canadian meat export supervision system exists obvious safety loopholes."

China said it’s taking “urgent preventative measures” by asking Canada to suspend meat-export certificates.

According to a statement from Canada’s Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found an issue with “inauthentic export certificates” and law enforcement agencies have been notified. She notes the CFIA is investigating a “technical issue” and is working with industry partners and Chinese officials.

Eichler said Manitoba will feel the effects of this suspension, as the province is the largest pork processor in Canada.

“It’ll certainly have an impact on us,” he said. “Pork to China is about $200 million from Manitoba, $500 million from Canada."

China’s move comes amid an ongoing dispute over the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver.

China has detained two Canadians and sentenced another to death. It has also stopped imports of Canadian canola and suspended import permits for three pork producers.

Prime Minister Trudeau is travelling to Japan on Wednesday for a G20 leaders’ summit, where it’s expected he will rely on President Donald Trump to bring up the issue of the detained Canadians during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

- With files from The Canadian Press’ Mike Blanchfield.