The GGC shares and understands the concerns that a new GM variety may have a negative impact on the marketing of Canadian grains and oilseeds. Concerns of this nature must be addressed before any new GM variety is introduced.
It is the position of the Grain Growers of Canada that the evaluation of the non-science based factors should be carried out by industry and not delegated to the government's regulatory approval process. This view has lead to the development of the Advanced Stakeholder Review Process.
It must be recognized that the industry Task Force report is not a final document and some issues still need to be resolved.
There are a number of key questions that need to be addressed by the grains and oilseed industry before the introduction of a new product of modern biotechnology.
- Have our key markets given regulatory approval to the new products?
- Are there markets that are willing to accept the new variety?
- Are identity preservation / segregation systems for the new variety necessary and are these systems in place?
- Are appropriate international and domestic standards in place for issues such as adventitious presence of the new variety?
- Are standardized testing systems available?
While this is not an exhaustive list of the issues that may need to be resolved in the future, an affirmative answer to each of these questions would help ensure that the international and domestic markets for Canadian grains and oilseeds are preserved after the introduction of new varieties.
