Canada updates modified seed guideline

Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau announced on 3 May that Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) seed guidelines would now allow for some modified plants.

The updated rules would allow for seeds created through genetic engineering (GE) that were not spliced with foreign DNA or altered to make them pesticide-resistant, a 10 May CBC News report said.

These seeds would be approved without an independent safety assessment by the government as they were already considered safe.

Canada also announced an industry-managed database to make it clear which seeds were and were not organic.

However, organic farmers

WORLD: The adoption rate of gene-edited (GE) crop seeds is expected to increase significantly in the next five to 10 years, according to a 9 May Rabobank report.

Factors driving increased adoption included enhanced crop productivity, drought tolerance, improved crop quality, reduced environmental impact, increased sustainability, addressing consumer needs, and new market opportunities.

Although the timeline for the adoption of GE seeds was hard to estimate, Rabobank said it expected adoption rates would surpass 50% within five to 10 years.

Rabobank farm inputs analyst Chia-Kai Kang said there were at least five factors that would determine if a GE crop could achieve a high adoption rate: product performance such as quality, yield, and consistency; possible long-term risks such as allergic and toxic reactions; disruption to trade flows due to export bans on GE crops; the marketing power, selling strategy and distribution network of the input company; and access to technology.

GE seeds not spliced with foreign DNA or made to be pesticide resistant will not need an independent safety assessment in Canada

Calyxt says seedless hemp offered improved yields and quality have called for a mandatory registry of organic producers, saying the updated guidelines put their produce at risk, while consumers would not know which food contained GE ingredients due to the lack of labelling requirements.

The USA was the frontrunner in GE applications, with 169 applications made from 2011-2020 including plants for human consumption, feed, industrial uses, and some micro-organisms for industry, with some of these applications due for commercial application.