NOVEMBER 2017 GERMINATION.CA 5 a certain amount of risk when they innovate in a new space if regula- tory bodies at home or around the world haven’t made it clear how they’ll handle oversight of that product. That’s why more often than not, they will not launch a new product until they get key export market approvals.” But achieving those approvals in Canada can also be a challenge. Manas Banerjee, president and CEO of XiteBio Technologies, a Winnipeg biotechnology company specializing in seed treatments and biologicals, says Canadian regulatory hurdles are very high. “Depending on the complexity of your submission, it sometimes takes quite long to achieve approval, which is a handicap, especially in Canada,” he says. XiteBio sometimes launches a product in the U.S. first, and a two-year lag will follow before approval is achieved in Canada — but Banerjee says this means U.S. customers are getting what he calls the “innovation advantage”. “Say, for example, a [new] canola mize risk by engaging with all parties involved in the product’s development, from government bodies to end-users. Hadley says most companies engage in multiple conversations along the regulatory pathway, inform- ing regulatory agencies about their intentions for the product, while at the same time talking to producer groups, grain marketers and processors. Hadley believes the customer con- nection is a crucial piece of risk man- agement when it comes to launching a new product, especially when it comes to new seed technologies. “There’s a high level of commit- ment to making sure [the customer] has a satisfactory experience.” According to Ian Affleck, executive director of plant biotechnology for CropLife Canada, most crops with new biotech traits will not be launched in Canada until they achieve regulatory approval in key export markets. product gives you a two-to-four bushel advantage. Down south they have fewer acres of canola, so that’s not really the [key] market for the product, but they’re getting the inno- vation advantage,” he says. “If you’re looking at a 40-bushel crop at $10 per bushel, that’s not a level playing field between the U.S. and Canada.” He adds: “Predictability is a huge challenge — no matter what kind of company you have, you need to have predictability.” Communicating with End-Users Even if companies can’t be assured predictability by the regulatory sys- tems in key markets, they can mini- Pattie Ganske, Agvocate Former Owner, Ag Retail Learn more at AgMoreThanEver.ca. Be somebody who does something. Be an agvocate. “If we talk about what we’re doing, people will understand how their food is grown and why we grow it the way we do.”