The grain industry continues to mull the question of how to regulate
the release of genetically modified crop varieties without jeopardizing
markets.
Much of the discussion is about market acceptance and where that should
fit in relation to the regulatory regime for approving new crop
varieties in Canada.
There are suggestions by some that the two should be dealt with
separately.
The current system for approving crop varieties is science based and
deals with issues such as crop quality and agronomics, as well as
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potential risk to the environment and human health.
The expertise needed to examine those aspects of a crop variety is
different from that needed to determine market acceptance.
Kevin Muxlow, with Grain Growers of Canada, thinks the grain industry
offers the best forum for reviewing market acceptance of a GM grain
variety.
He said such a review by industry stakeholders could perhaps be done
through a process parallel to the science-based review before new crop
varieties are registered.
Unless a consensus can be reached for dealing with market acceptance,
Muxlow said Canada could lose the potential benefits that biotechnology
can bring to the industry.
“We don’t want these things shut down,” he said, while noting caution
is needed when GM varieties are brought to the market.
At the centre of the debate about market acceptance is Roundup Ready
wheat, a genetically modified crop being developed by Monsanto.
Several farm groups want assurances it will not be released
commercially until there is some certainty that Canada’s export markets
for wheat will not be jeopardized.
Monsanto spokesperson Trish Jordan said Canada needs a consistent
process that deals with all marketing issues arising from the
development of a GM grain variety such as Roundup Ready wheat. Monsanto
has not set a target for when it would like to have that variety
available to Canadian farmers.
Besides market acceptance, factors like segregation, identity
preservation and international standards for tolerances also need to be
looked at. But Jordan said market acceptance cannot be worked into the
current science-based regulatory system for approving new varieties.
“Market acceptance is very difficult to define.”
Jordan would favour a collaborative approach within the grain industry
for resolving the marketing issues of GM wheat.
An industry working group has been formed to examine marketing issues
and potential costs and benefits of bringing Roundup Ready wheat to
market.
Patty Rosher, the Canadian Wheat Board’s market development program
manager, said it is not yet clear how the issue of market acceptance
for GM wheat can be tied in with the variety registration process.
She said one possibility is to have an ad hoc committee that deals with
marketing issues.
The recommendation of that committee would then go to the federal
minister of agriculture for review. That would be in addition to the
current process for variety registration.
But Rosher said at this point, the federal government does not seem
keen on adding socio-economic factors to the registration process.
