The Canadian government is being hypocritical in pursuing a low level presence policy for unapproved genetically modified crops, says an anti-biotechnology crusader.
“Low level presence punches a big hole right through the government’s claim that our regulation of GM foods is science-based,” said Lucy Sharratt, co-ordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.
Agriculture Canada wants to establish a low level presence policy allowing trace amounts of GM crops that have been approved in an exporting country but not in Canada.
It recently completed consultations on a proposal to allow up to 0.1 percent of an unapproved GM trait as long as certain conditions are met.
Read Also
Research looks to control flea beetles with RNAi
A Vancouver agri-tech company wants to give canola growers another weapon in the never-ending battle against flea beetles.
The main condition is that the trait would have to be approved by an exporting nation that Canada has deemed to have an equivalent regulatory system.
There are also provisions in the proposal to establish thresholds for unapproved GM traits that exceed 0.1 percent if certain conditions are met.
An interim threshold could be established if the owner of the trait has submitted a package to Canadian authorities for regulatory approval and a risk assessment has been conducted.
An indefinite threshold could be set if a risk assessment based on all available safety information about the product determines that the trait is unlikely to pose a health or safety risk.
Sharratt said she can’t believe the government is willing to abandon its science-based safety assessment under these special circumstances.
“It seems to us that the Canadian government is suggesting that Health Canada’s approval process for GM foods can be dismissed in certain cases,” she said.
“It’s just shocking what this proposal is asking Canadians to accept.”
Stephen Yarrow, vice-president of plant biotechnology with CropLife Canada, said it’s not that shocking.
“I can understand the concern, but one really needs to appreciate that it’s only under those circumstances where that material has been approved by another government that has equal or better standards than Canada,” he said.
On the contrary
Yarrow rejects the assertion that Canada is backing away from a science- based system.
“I don’t see any evidence of that being abandoned.”
He said a risk assessment will replace a full safety assessment in some instances, but it is still going to be a science driven process.
Sharratt said she doesn’t know how Health Canada can conduct a risk assessment without thoroughly vetting the data contained in the submission. She bristles at the notion that submitting a package for regulatory approval makes the GM trait in question more benign.
“Somehow they’re going to be evaluating the robustness of the data package without evaluating the data itself,” said Sharratt.
What happens if Canadian regulators do not approve the trait but allow it to cross the border through a temporary threshold? she asked.
Sharratt also rejected the notion that a tiny bit of an unknown substance is safe and predicts others share that point of view.
“For food retailers and manufacturers, we foresee this being a major problem.”
Yarrow said the zero tolerance policy for unapproved traits that is used around the world is a major impediment for the grain trade. An entire shipment can be rejected for containing dust from an unapproved trait.
Canada has not had to deal with low level presence domestically, but grain farmers and exporters have been stung by incidents such as the Triffid flax case, where an unapproved trait disrupted flax sales to the European Union.
That is why CropLife applauds the Canadian government for taking the lead on establishing a low level presence policy that can be mimicked by other countries.
Sharratt said implementing the proposal would sacrifice food safety for trade policy, which she thinks is an unacceptable tradeoff.
Yarrow is not sure what happens next, but believes the government is motivated to get a policy in place.
“I do get the sense that they’re taking this seriously and want to move on it,” he said.
