Canola grower Kenton Ziegler from Beiseker, Alta., figures Ottawa’s decision to challenge European Union restrictions on imports of genetically modified products is as much about the image of his product as it is about reclaiming an old market.
On May 14, the federal government said it is joining the United States, Argentina and Egypt in taking the EU to the World Trade Organization over its refusal since 1998 to approve any new GM varieties for import.
“The EU has no scientific grounds for the moratorium and its own analysis has shown GM canola to be completely safe for all uses,” the chair of the Alberta Canola Producers’ Commission said in a statement issued from commission offices.
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Darlingford, Man., grain producer Jim Wilson agreed.
“The European moratorium sends a signal to the rest of the world about the safety of the technology,” the chair of the Agricore United board of directors said. “This challenge makes the point that we believe in the safety of our products when they are approved by our science-based system.”
When he announced Canada’s decision to join the U.S.-initiated challenge at the WTO, trade minister Pierre Pettigrew insisted the EU is violating WTO obligations to base food assessments on scientific tests for health and safety.
“We are asking the European Union to apply its own laws,” he said in the House of Commons May 16 in answer to Bloc Québécois criticisms.
Agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief said it is about regaining lost markets. He noted that while Canada was once building a European market worth hundreds of millions of dollars, sales since 1998 have fallen to “a mere $1.5 million.”
But the industry, which largely supported the announcement, saw it more as an assault on image, protectionism and precedent.
“Our primary objective in fighting the moratorium has been its impact in creating misconceptions about the safety of the product,” Barb Isman, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said. “If we won, it could open some more sales, but it’s more important that this be stopped because other countries may be tempted to follow the European model.”
Announcement of the decision won criticism as well as praise.
In Parliament, the GMOÐskeptical BQ called it another example of the Liberal government taking its marching orders from Washington, which initiated the WTO challenge.
Anti-GMO campaigners like Greenpeace Canada condemned it as an attempt by Canada to use the WTO to bully European governments into accepting products their consumers do not want.
And in Brussels, European Union officials reacted quickly and harshly. The European Commission called the challenge “unwarranted, economically unfounded and politically unhelpful.”
The EU vowed to fight the challenge and to continue preparations for tough new regulations that will help keep GM product imports tightly controlled into the future.
“The commission strongly believes that we in Europe should move ahead with completing our legislation on traceability and labelling and on food and feed currently before the European Parliament,” EC environment commissioner Margot Wallstrom said in Brussels.
“We should not be deflected or distracted from pursuing the right policy for the EU.”
As it explained its decision to join the trade challenge, the federal government noted that Canada is the third largest producer and exporter of GM crops after the U.S. and Argentina. Two-thirds of canola acreage and one-third of corn and soybean acreage are sown to GM varieties.
Grain Growers of Canada president Ken Bee, a soybean producer from Ontario, said Canada’s decision sends an important signal that the government will use WTO agreements to defend Canadian farmers from protectionism and the “whims” of foreign governments.
“We must ensure that all international sanitary and phytosanitary rules are based on clear and sound science,” Bee said. “Allowing other non-scientific or social factors to block trade will be a serious long-term blow to Canadian agriculture.”
At the canola council in Winnipeg, Isman said it is unclear if Canadian canola could get into the European market even if Canada and its allies win the case. EU labelling and traceability requirements could continue to block Canadian product.
But she said biodiesel manufacturers in Europe could be a lucrative market and access to other countries that may have been tempted to adopt European protectionism would be the real victory.
