Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 604 GERMINATION.CA MARCH 2017 W HEN DAVE CAREY appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade to provide the seed industry’s perspective on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in June of last year, it was with a sense of hope and optimism that the multilateral free trade agreement would pass and would have benefits for Canada’s seed sector. That sense of optimism turned to disappointment Jan. 23 when President Donald Trump formally withdrew the United States from the TPP, effectively rendering the agreement dead in the water. “Without them on board, the TPP can’t work the way it’s drafted. It’s not a surprise, but it’s definitely a disap- pointment after all these years of negotiation,” says Carey, government affairs and policy director for the Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA). “I think the writing was unfortunately on the wall. President Trump made a lot of comments around trade during the campaign, but the TPP seemed to definitely be in his crosshairs.” The TPP is a multilateral trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and — until January — the United States. The finalized proposal was signed on Feb. 4, 2016, after seven years of negotiations. It currently cannot be ratified due to the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement. It was anticipated the TPP would have a number of benefits for the Canadian seed industry. The TPP was expected to help improve the trade of seed with attention given to sanitary and phytosanitary standards, biotech- nology, regulatory cooperation and streamlined customs administration procedures. The TPP included a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Chapter, including provisions on regionalization, equiva- lence, and science and risk analysis. These provisions would likely help ensure that market access gains are not negatively impacted by unjustified SPS-related restrictions. While addressing the issue of unjustified SPS-related restrictions, the chapter also safeguards the right of each party to take the measures necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health. To help with the balancing act, this chapter establishes a mechanism that allows SPS issues to be addressed by experts, resulting in enhanced cooperation and resolution of issues. When it comes to biotechnology, government rep- resentatives reported they had secured provisions on products of modern biotechnology. This emphasizes the The election of Donald Trump to the United States presidency is already having implications for Canadian seed and science. Marc Zienkiewicz THE TRUMPEFFECT