A Canada-European Union free trade deal will be acceptable to Canadian grain and oilseed producers only if Europe agrees to tolerate unintended low-level GMO presence in non-GMO shipments.
It was a clear message from Grain Growers of Canada representatives last week when they appeared before the House of Commons international trade committee on the EU talks.
“Any trade deal where access is not real is no trade deal at all,” GGC executive director Richard Phillips told MPs Nov. 17.
For Ontario soybean producer Jim Gowland, tens of thousands of dollars of revenue are on the line.
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He produces 900 acres of identity preserved non-genetically modified soy for the European market, and the premium those shipments bring is worth up to $70,000 annually for his 2,200 acre farm.
However, a European decision to reject a shipment because of unintended trace elements of GM material can quickly take that revenue away.
“The Canadian grains and oilseeds industry and the Canadian government must continue to work hard together in trade negotiations with the EU and specifically with non-tariff trade barriers such as manageable low-level presence policies,” said Gowland.
Negotiators have completed nine rounds of talks and a deal is expected in the new year, although many sensitive areas, including agriculture, have yet to be raised.
