Canada urged to speed up detection of GM grains
December 5, 2000 3:31pm
Source: Reuters
By Irene Marushko
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Rapid detection of genetically modified grains and
oilseeds has become an urgent necessity for Canada's agricultural
export industry, which sells food around the world, an industry
official said Tuesday. ``Canada really needs to make a concerted
effort about detection in grains,'' said William Scowcroft, a
director with the Canadian Grain Commission's research laboratory.
``We export C$10 billion ($6.5 billion) worth of grain (a year),''
Scowcroft said at a meeting of Canadian grain industry leaders
Tuesday. He encouraged the industry to speed up development of
devices to quickly and efficiently detect both imported and exported
GM products.
Detection of genetically modified grain and oilseeds will become
increasingly necessary as countries, scrambling to regulate the
relatively new technology entering their markets, begin to require
formal detection. Canada currently uses detection devices on imports
from the U.S. for a certain type of GM corn, which is banned here,
Scowcroft said. He said there were numerous reasons why countries
would require detection, including the need for commodity
segregation, seed certification, niche marketing and to answer the
public's right to know what it is consuming. ``We have to be ready,''
he said.
Many governments are facing growing pressure from a public worried
about possible negative health affects of consuming plants grown from
seeds that have been modified genetically to, for example, resist
herbicides. There is a widespread understanding in the industry that
GM trade will become increasingly regulated with time, with some
countries possibly banning GM imports or wishing to keep out certain
GM types to prevent interference with ecosystems. Scowcroft said a
method of GM canola detection could be ready in a short time but the
impetus must come from the Canadian industry, which mainly exports to
China, Mexico and Japan.
``It requires the industry to say, 'Yes, we're going to do it,''' he
said. The bulk of Canada's canola -- a variant of rapeseed -- is
genetically modified. Its import has been banned for years in Europe,
where people are more wary of the technology than are North
Americans. Mexico and Japan support labeling of foods made from GM
plants.
Scowcroft said detection devices, some of them as simple as a home
pregnancy test -- using chemicals to determine if seeds are or are
not genetically modified -- exist for types of soybeans, corn and
cotton. About 95 percent of the planted areas of the United States,
Canada and Argentina are dedicated to growing GM crops. Canada has
numerous registered varieties of canola, soybeans, corn and potatoes
and has been conducting further GM trials in canola, wheat, corn and
soybeans.
($1-$1.54 Canadian)
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