Social concerns not grounded in science are impeding international trade, a discussion group heard during Plant Canada meetings in Saskatoon.
Gordon Rowland, a plant breeder with Saskatoon’s Crop Development Centre, called Canada’s novel trait designation a barrier to commercializing new varieties.
“There’s no risk I’ve ever identified. No other country has this type of regulation around the normal production of plant breeding.”
Rowland said a peer review can recommend the release of new varieties, but registration is often stalled by stringent definitions of novel that encompass the normal everyday crosses made in plant breeding.
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He cited the case of the Flor de Mayo bean that was designated as novel and forced to prove why it was not novel, crippling its chances for registration.
“This plant was lost to Canadian farmers,” said Rowland.
Brian Rossnagel of the University of Saskatchewan felt Canada was creating barriers with a “totally ridiculous regulatory procedure.
“We have an issue that is not science based and we’re trying to use science to regulate it.
“We have to be reasonable and sometimes we get in our own way,” said Rossnagel.
“We need to separate social concerns from science concerns and deal with them as best as we can.”
The backlash against genetically modified potatoes, detailed in a separate presentation, stemmed from public debates on their risks and benefits. It forced processors to avoid them, fearing GM potatoes would hurt their bottom lines.
Rowland said plant breeders look for natural variations in species that they can add to varieties to improve crops.
The discovery of the gene causing dwarfing in wheat was widely used to make crosses to produce high yielding wheat around the world.
Similar breakthroughs led to the development of canola and triticale. Redwood 65 flax, developed in the 1960s, is today in the background of many varieties.
Rowland called induced mutation an 80-year-old technology that is behind 2,500 mutant varieties of rice, barley, wheat, soybeans and corn, representing 180 plant species used in 60 countries.
“They’ve been grown for a long time,” he said.
Delegates also heard how sophisticated testing methods and measurements are also creating trade barriers.
Peter Burnett of the Canadian Grain Commission’s grain research laboratory noted how Canadian grain shipments are checked for toxins, heavy metals, weed seeds, microbiological loads and novel traits.
Japan tests grain vessels in transit and will refuse shipments if they are over its allowable limits.
Burnett said positive tests can be detrimental to Canada’s reputation and its competitive position with other countries like Australia.
“People will say Canada’s grain is unsafe. It’s like finding a nugget of gold. One infected load can give you a high reading,” said Burnett.
“People will use that against us.”
Burnett stressed the need for all involved to undertake due diligence.
Marketers have to make sure there’s no leakage of stored grain, researchers have to breed plants for certain desired traits, government organizations have to oversee food safety and farmers have to use registered varieties and inputs.
“All of us in the system have important roles to play from the farmer to the elevator to the ships,” he said, noting how enhanced traceability systems will be able to track a shipment all the way back to the farm where it was grown.
