The new date for elimination of the KVD requirement in grain variety registration is Aug. 1, 2008 for all classes, says agriculture minister Gerry Ritz.
In a Feb. 4 interview, the minister said that an earlier statement indicating his preference for a 2008 end to the requirement that new classes must have kernels that are visibly distinguishable from others really was a statement of policy.
The industry has been working toward a deadline set by previous agriculture minister Chuck Strahl that KVD for minor classes would be eliminated this year and for the major classes of grain by Aug. 1, 2010.
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“That (2008) has been my preference all along,” said Ritz. “That is when it will be eliminated.”
Agriculture Canada is expected to issue a statement on the issue within days.
It will cause unease in some parts of the industry and joy in others.
The Canadian Seed Trade Association has asked for early elimination of the KVD requirement because it says research on new varieties is being delayed. The CSTA said Ritz had to send a definitive signal before wheat variety registration committees meet to make their recommendations later this month.
“If they don’t understand that there is a new date and new rules taking effect this year, then varieties that could be recommended will not be, under the KVD rule, and another whole year will be lost,” CSTA first vice-president Jeff Reid had said.
Ritz now has given that signal.
But during a grain industry symposium organized last November by Grain Growers of Canada and the Canada Grains Council, the industry consensus was that to be credible to customers, Canada has to be methodical in moving to the new system.
The meeting agreed that 2010 was the earliest the system could credibly guarantee customers that they are getting the class of grain they want without the KVD requirement.
It will require changes to the Canada Grain Act to impose penalties for growers and shippers who misrepresent the class of grain they deliver. Eventually, the industry will have to be equipped to test grain to ensure it is what it is supposed to be, said the majority at the meeting.
“Let’s make sure we have a system in place before we go all the way,” said Chuck Fossay from Keystone Agricultural Producers, reporting from one of the workshops.
Now, the Western Grain Elevators Association is warning that the system will not be equipped before 2010 to credibly deal with new varieties that have not passed the KVD test.
Executive director Wade Sobkowich said the 2010 deadline for eliminating KVD for major classes was ambitious and industry was struggling to meet it.
As for 2008, “we as an industry are not ready.”
