There is more to the definition of “harm” than is in Canadian seed laws, says the group that recommends canola varieties for registration.
After some heated discussion, the canola and rapeseed recommending committee voted last week to ask the federal government to change the Canada Seeds Act.
The law states a cultivar cannot be registered if it will cause harm to the Canadian industry.
But a year and a half ago, when herbicide-tolerant canola started to become prevalent, the committee discovered it had to recommend for registration cultivars that met standards, even though they might endanger important export markets.
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So the committee now wants to be able to send a new line with not-yet-approved traits into a specialty and contract registration system until all science-based regulatory approvals in key markets are wrapped up.
Dale Adolphe, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said these new cultivars could go through the same rigorous testing required for full registration, but receive special registration until feed, food and environmental reviews are complete.
So far, the seed trade has always initiated closed-loop production systems for these situations, said Adolphe.
Don Woods, another committee member, said these “gentlemen’s agreements” have so far worked to keep not-yet-approved seed separate from export-bound seed.
But they are not enforceable, he said.
The new policy position passed 12 votes to six, with many abstentions, despite warnings from audience members involved in the seed trade.
Peter Bonus, of Svalof Weibull, said he worries the federal government would end up deciding what Canada’s key markets are, which would slow up the approvals process.
Gord Froehlich, of Monsanto, said the new definition could have international repercussions. He said Canada has been a leader in approving varieties with new traits, and this has pushed forward the globalization of regulatory approvals.
Trying to explain the new approval system to customers would be a communication problem, he said. International approvals could be pushed back too.
Several other seed industry representatives agreed with Froehlich.
Phillip Raney, an Agriculture Canada scientist who sits on the committee, became annoyed with the seed companies’ attitude.
“You guys do not want to be bound by an agreement,” he charged, calling the discussion “disturbing.”
Grant Watson, assistant director of the variety section of the food inspection agency, suggested the group forward its comments on changing the ongoing review of the variety registration process.
The issue will be a big one for crops like wheat, he said, that are just starting to explore the marketability of transgenics.
