KELOWNA, B.C. – The Canadian Seed Trade Association is promoting a policy that would address trade problems related to the low level presence of unauthorized genetically modified material in exported seed.
CSTA executive vice-president Bill Leask said developing a policy on low level presence (LLP) has emerged as a key priority for the Canadian seed trade industry.
Currently, an importing country that detects minute traces of an unregistered GM event in Canadian seed can reject an entire shipment.
Trade disruptions are particularly worrisome in Europe, where GM tolerance thresholds are extremely low and molecular testing regimes are increasingly stringent.
Read Also
Lower U.S. spring wheat yields to cut production
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop production and world agricultural supply and demand estimates reports were released July 11 with the main focus on the wheat, corn and soybean estimates.
“This low level presence issue has become enormously disruptive, particularly with shipments to Europe of forage seed, because they’re still insisting on zero tolerance,” he said during the organization’s annual meeting in Kelowna.
“If, in fact, a (trade friendly) policy was in place, it would be a solution for Triffid, it would be a solution for the … LLP canola that might be present in forage seed shipments and it would be a solution for those situations where we have a wreck that’s waiting to happen.”
The proposed CSTA policy would reduce trade disruptions through a system that promotes universal GM approvals.
When a GM event is authorized in one country using internationally recognized, science-based, feed and food safety standards, the event would automatically be recognized in other countries as well.
Leask said international, science-based approval protocols have already been developed and adopted through the United Nations’ Codex Alimentarius agreements.
Additional standards dealing with environmental risks are also being developed through working groups at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
If those standards were recognized universally, then seed shipments would flow freely across international borders, he added.
Existing purity and seed quality standards that apply seed exports would also be applied.
“The No. 1 premise is that for countries that have already approved (a GM process) using international standards … basically you would move from zero tolerance to using existing international standards that are already in place for the trade in seed,” Leask said.
The CSTA has already floated its idea at an International Seed Federation conference held earlier this year in Calgary, and feedback from other national seed trade organizations was positive.
The proposal also received a positive reception at an international meeting of seed trade groups in South America.
Based on that feedback, the CSTA is eager to advocate its policy in Europe, where the potential for trade disruptions is relatively high.
“We’re ready to take an even greater role in advocating this policy,” Leask said. “If we think this plan has traction, then let’s try to drive it home. That may include a proposal to make a submission to Europe and speak to European delegates with support of the European Seed Association.”
Leask said trade officials and seed industry stakeholders in Europe are beginning to recognize that LLP issues are having a significant impact on European business interests.
“The low level presence issue is now the number one priority, even within the European seed trade, because they recognize that this is not just a North American phenomenon but it is already creeping in to become a very significant problem within Europe.”
LLP issues are also on the federal government’s radar.
Agriculture Canada is developing a policy paper on LLP to determine what steps should be taken to limit trade disruptions and develop protocols aimed at minimizing international trade disruptions.
Agriculture Canada officials said completion of the issue paper is the first step in a comprehensive action plan aimed at addressing potential trade problems.
