Canada threatening WTO challenge over EU's proposed restrictions/rankings on product from Cdn oil sands

http://ht.ly/4sQSz BRUSSELS — The Canadian government has stepped up lobbying in Europe for its oil sands industry, repeating its threats of trade conflict, a leaked letter shows. The letter dated March 18 to Europe’s commissioners for climate, trade and energy follows Canada’s denial it threatened to scrap a free trade deal unless the European Union alters planned environmental laws. "Given the desire for freer trade between us, it is important that our individual efforts to address climate change do not lead to the creation of unnecessary barriers," Canadian trade official Mark Richardson said in a document sent with the letter. "The Government of Canada believes this approach raises the prospect of unjustified discrimination and is not supported by the science." The dispute centres around EU plans to make fuel suppliers reduce the carbon footprint of fuels by 6% over the next decade. The EU is now fine-tuning a ranking of fuels to help suppliers identify the most carbon-intensive imports.