Health Canada deemed gene-edited crops to be just as safe as conventionally bred crops
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Members of Canada’s ag community support Health Canada’s new guidelines regarding gene-edited crops.
“It’s a positive outcome that we’ve been looking forward to,” Dean Dias, CEO of Cereals Canada, told Farms.com. “In Canada it’s not the technology that’s regulated, it’s the product. With gene editing, you’re not bringing in another trait from another organism, you’re just speeding up the process of what the plant would do with conventional breeding.”
These new guidelines present multiple opportunities for Canadian plant breeders because gene-edited crops can be treated like conventional crops and don’t require pre-market safety evaluations.
Genetically modified crops still require the safety evaluation, which can be a multi-year process.
“Clear, predictable and science-based policies support investment in innovation in Canada, which will help drive greater agricultural sustainability and productivity while helping address the challenges of climate change and global food security,” CropLife Canada said in a statement.
Health Canada’s May 18 decision puts aligns the country’s stance on gene-edited crops with trading partners like the U.S., Japan, Argentina and Australia.
“This is great news for Canadian plant breeders, but we have a lot more work to do with our trading partners to make sure we don’t have any market access concerns,” Dias said. “Some importers may have restrictions, so we’ll need to have those conversations to provide clarity to our customers around the world about where Canada stands.”
In Switzerland, for example, gene editing regulations are set to loosen, but details won’t be finalized until at least 2024, the Genetic Literacy Project says.
A 2021 poll from the country indicates more than 80 per cent of the population support gene editing if it leads to disease-resistant crops and/or reduces pesticide use.
Health Canada’s new guidelines aren’t universally supported.
The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) , which includes 15 groups like the Canadian Organic Growers, National Farmers Union and Ecological Farmers of Ontario, oppose the new guidelines.
Health Canada’s new policy gives private companies too much power over the food supply, the group said.
“We’re shocked that the Minister of Health has committed to corporate self-regulation of these gene-edited foods. Canadians will soon be eating some gene-edited foods that have not gone through any independent government safety checks, and some of these foods may not even be reported by companies to the government or public,” Lucy Sharratt, coordinator with CBAN, said in a statement. “This decision profoundly increases corporate control over our food system.”