WINNIPEG (Reuters) – Increased testing for GMOs in world wheat supplies will inevitably find them because of contamination from other crops in the grain handling system, says the head of the Canadian Wheat Board.
The expected discovery of genetic modified material in wheat highlights the need for the grain industry, governments and export markets to agree on accepting low levels of GMOs, CWB chief executive officer Ian White told the Canada Grains Council annual meeting in Winnipeg.
GM wheat has not been commercialized because of opposition from consumers and food industry players, and White said it may not happen for another 10 years.
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“But we will certainly see GM materials through the handling system,” he said.
“For wheat, it could be a very, very major issue going forward. It’s just that at this time, in a lot of areas, testing isn’t done.”
If testing were done now, White added, it probably wouldn’t find GM materials, but he said such findings are inevitable.
He said most wheat importers have zero tolerance for GMOs. The CWB does not support GM wheat unless certain conditions are met, he added, including acceptance by key export markets.
“To operate in a zero (tolerance) world, I think it’s been demonstrated we can’t,” said Richard Wansbutter, chair of the Canada Grains Council and Viterra’s vice-president for commercial and government relations.
“We do need market acceptance (of GMOs) in our major markets, but most critically, a low-level presence policy.”
The grain industry has asked Canada’s negotiators to include such a policy in free trade talks with the European Union, Wansbutter said.
Tougher testing does not appear imminent because shippers have assured buyers that wheat shipments are GMO-free, White said. However, Japan and the EU, whose consumers are wary of GM food, are the most likely to boost testing of wheat first, he added.
The discovery of GM materials in Canadian flax shipments to the EU last summer has led to a dramatic reduction in flax trade between Canada and the EU.
A wheat shipment testing positive for GMOs would damage the shipper’s reputation, White said.
“It does take you a lot of time to overcome that, and to get back in that market the same way you were before is often difficult.”
