NOVEMBER 2017 GERMINATION.CA 61 TheHeadlines Leaf Foods for six years and most recently with Cargill for 12 years. Throughout his career, he has held various leadership roles in grain merchandizing, product line and supply chain management, and in his last role he was the national sales leader for Cargill. ALBERTA WHEAT, BARLEY TESTING SHARED MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE Alberta Barley appoints Tom Steve as interim general manager effective immediately. Steve currently serves as general manager of the Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) and will continue in this role as well. With Steve now leading both commissions, the boards of AWC and Alberta Barley have approved a project to assess the feasibility of amalgamating their management teams over a four-month trial period. The move is aimed at stream- lining the commissions’ collaborative relationship and increasing efficiencies that will better serve Alberta’s wheat and barley farmers. POLICY NEW CANADA-EU TRADE AGREEMENT TAKES EFFECT The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada has entered into force. “This agreement encapsulates what we want our trade policy to be — an instrument for growth that ben- efits European companies and citizens, but also a tool to project our values, harness globalization and shape global trade rules,” European Commission president Jean- Claude Juncker said. Under the agreement, 98 per cent of EU tariff lines are now duty-free for Canadian goods, and an additional one per cent will be eliminated over a seven-year phase-out period. Tariff elimination will pro- vide enhanced export opportunities into the EU market for Canadian producers, processors, and manufacturers, as well as for agricultural and agri-food products, accord- ing to the Government of Canada. FARMERS EDGE TO PAY LEGAL FEES IN PATENT INFRINGEMENT CASE Kansas-based Farmobile, a farm data company, announced the Federal Court of Canada ordered Winnipeg’s Farmers Edge Inc. to provide the particulars of Farmers Edge’s defenses and pay a portion of related legal fees to Farmobile. This is the most recent step in legal action filed by Farmobile in March 2017 to enforce its Canadian patent against Farmers Edge. According to the Statement of Claim filed in Court, Farmobile alleges that the “CanPlug” device and FarmCommand system used, operated and sold by Farmers Edge infringe Farmobile’s Canadian patent. Following an Aug. 22 hearing, Federal Court Judge Justice Manson ordered Farmers Edge to provide defense particulars and immediately pay the company $5,000 towards its legal fees. Farmobile devel- ops data collection tools that enable farmers to collect, share and even sell their data to improve efficiencies and increase farm profitability, according to the company. CANADA NOW HAS A CHIEF SCIENCE ADVISER Mona Nemer is Canada’s new science adviser, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced. A Lebanese-Canadian science professor, she served as Vice- President Research at the University of Ottawa from 2006-2017 and was formerly at the University of Montreal and the Institut de recherches clin- iques de Montréal where she held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Cell Differentiation. Her research focuses on the under- standing of the molecular mecha- nisms that register the genetic expression of cardiac cells. Science Minister Kirsty Duncan said Nemer will submit a public report about the state of science in Canada to the federal government once a year. “The chief science adviser position was defined after carrying out extensive consultations with Cabinet members, caucus and key domestic stakeholders in the research community. We also reached out to chief science advisers and public servants in other coun- tries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Israel, as well as to international organiza- tions such as the European Union, the International Council for Science, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,” Duncan said. PRODUCT BREAKTHROUGH WHEAT QUALITY TRAIT TO BE COMMERCIALIZED Arcadia Biosciences and Dow AgroSciences announced they will collaborate to develop and com- mercialize a breakthrough improved wheat quality trait in North America. The collaboration leverages Arcadia’s non-GM TILLING trait development platform with Dow AgroSciences’ enabling technology platforms, high-quality germplasm and global commercial channels. Under the collaboration, the companies will fur-