PROVINCIAL
P.E.I. Analytical Laboratories Amalgamates
P.E.I. Analytical Laboratories has amalgamated its five labs into one facility located in Charlottetown. The lab provides analytical services for drinking water, surface water, wastewater, soil, feed, dairy seed, plant tissue, manure and compost samples. PEIAL is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada to a recognized international standard, and provides testing services for the public, farmers, municipalities, the processing industry, extension specialists, corporations and research scientists.
Saskatchewan Committees to Establish Wheat and Barley Commissions
The province of Saskatchewan has created two committees tasked with establishing wheat and barley commissions. Previously, wheat and barley check-offs were collected by the CWB. With new market freedom, producers will have an opportunity to direct how check-offs from the sale of wheat and barley grown in the province will be used for research and development through the new commissions. The interim committees will remain in place only until elections are held for the boards of directors to run the respective commissions. It is expected that the wheat and barley commissions will be in place and operational by August 2013.
NATIONAL
Dow AgroSciences Receives Regulatory Approval of Enlist Traits
Dow AgroSciences LLC has received approval from Canadian regulatory authorities for the Enlist corn and soybean traits. This will allow for the first-ever cultivation of the traits, which provide tolerance to 2,4-D herbicide, giving farmers options and advanced technology for dealing with hard-to-control and resistant weeds in both crops. Approvals are also being sought in the United States, Brazil and Argentina. DAS anticipates launching the Enlist Weed Control System in Canada and the United States in corn in 2013 and in soybeans in 2015.
Government Streamlining CGC
The Canadian government has introduced amendments to the Canada Grain Act, the first substantial changes in more than 40 years. The amendments will streamline and modernize the operations of the Canadian Grain Commission, reduce the regulatory burden for grain producers, and eliminate about $20 million annually in unnecessary costs from the grain handling system. The government’s Budget 2012 proposed $44 million in funding over two years to transition the CGC to a sustainable funding model. This will allow the CGC to continue its current statutory programs and functions until August 1, 2013, which is when the amendments will take effect.
The amendments to the act will streamline the operations of the CGC and eliminate redundant or unnecessary services, such as inward inspection, that are no longer required in a modern grain industry. These changes will improve the CGC’s producer payment protection program by creating an opportunity for producers to move to a new insurance-based system, where licensing costs may be reduced and protection coverage improved. The CGC’s role in grain quality and safety assurance, research, market access and producer protection will continue. To ensure the financial stability of the organization, the government will also update the CGC’s user fees, which have not changed in more than 20 years.
Monsanto to Bring New Soybean to Market for 2014
Monsanto’s dicamba-tolerant soybean product has received full food, feed and environmental release approval from Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The approval brings Monsanto one step closer to introducing dicamba tolerance stacked with Monsanto’s existing Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield trait technology in soybeans. The company plans to commercially brand this biotech stacked soybean product as Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Xtend. Pending regulatory approval of all system components, it is expected to be available for the 2014 growing season.
CFIA Changing Pedigreed Seed Crop Inspection Services
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is moving forward on its initiative to increase the role of authorized service providers to carry out pedigreed seed crop inspection activities. The CFIA is working with industry to transfer seed crop inspection services to an alternate delivery mechanism as one of the Government of Canada’s decisions under Budget 2012. This initiative focuses on the direct delivery of seed crop inspection by the private sector. The CFIA will maintain its role as Canada’s national seed authority and will continue to be involved in activities in support of seed crop inspection and certification, including licensing and oversight of private sector delivery of seed crop inspection. The initial transfer of activities will occur on April 1, 2014. There are many preliminary steps that must be taken, starting as soon as the spring of 2013, in order for the seed sector and the CFIA to be ready for the alternative delivery of pedigreed seed crop inspection in the 2014 growing season. ASD for seed crop inspection is national. ASD of seed crop inspection does not apply to seed potatoes.
CanAgPlus to Operate CanadaGAP
CanadaGAP, the national food safety program for fresh fruit and vegetable suppliers, is now operated by CanAgPlus, a new Canadian not-for-profit corporation that will operate CanadaGAP independently of the program’s founding organization, the Canadian Horticultural Council. Under the new corporation, CanadaGAP program requirements and the audit and certification process will remain the same for program participants and for certification bodies delivering third-party audits. The fully integrated program is not yet available, although work is in progress and will continue into 2013.
INTERNATIONAL
Syngenta Receives EU Import Approval
Syngenta has been granted import approval by the European Commission for the Agrisure Viptera trait. This approval allows the importation of U.S. corn grown with this trait for food or feed use within the 27 countries of the European Union. In total, the technology is approved for cultivation in Argentina, Brazil, Canada and the United States, and for import in Australia, Belarus, the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia and Taiwan.
Taiwan Approves new Trait
Syngenta has announced that regulatory authorities in Taiwan have granted import approval for the Agrisure 3122 trait stack for food use. The Agrisure 3122 trait stack offers growers a reduced refuge trait stack featuring dual modes of action against corn borer and corn rootworm. In the United States, the Agrisure 3122 trait stack already received registration from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Syngenta has received import approval from regulatory authorities in Canada, Japan, Mexico and the Philippines.
GEMAA Open for Signature
The Biotechnology Industry Organization and the American Seed Trade Association have announced that the Generic Event Marketability and Access Agreement is open for signature. The GEMAA is a landmark agreement created within the private sector-driven framework, referred to as the Accord. The Accord was developed to address the transition of commercial biotechnology events as they go off-patent. The GEMAA is intended to benefit the entire agriculture value chain by ensuring the maintenance of foreign regulatory authorizations and stewardship obligations following the expiration of patents for biotechnology events utilized in seed varieties.
