Statement on Health Canada’s new plant breeding innovation guidance

Science-based policies for plant breeding innovations in Canada support sustainable agriculture and food security

CropLife Canada supports Health Canada’s updated regulatory policies for the pre-market assessment of plant breeding innovation in Canada. Clear, predictable and science-based policies support investment in innovation in Canada, which will help drive greater agricultural sustainability and productivity while helping address the challenges of climate change and global food security.

The updated regulatory guidance maintains the high level of safety in our food system while delivering on the objectives set by the Economic Strategy Table for Agri-Food and the Treasury Board Regulatory Road Maps aimed to enable the full potential of Canadian agriculture. These policies place Canada in a position to be a world leader in plant breeding innovation.

Plant breeding innovations, from conventional breeding to gene editing, are important tools in the toolbox of plant breeders of all sizes, from both the public and private sector, who are continually working on developing new and improved crop varieties. Plant breeding innovations have the potential to deliver healthier food, more resilient and productive crops, and plant varieties that require fewer resources to grow. These innovations support the agriculture sector’s efforts to fight climate change through reducing carbon emissions and sequestering carbon into the soil all while contributing to food security and economic prosperity.

CropLife Canada and its members are encouraged by the strong scientific basis of these policies, as outlined in Health Canada’s accompanying scientific opinion, which describes the long history of safety in plant breeding and recognizes that all food in Canada, no matter how it is produced, is subject to the high safety standards set out in the Food and Drugs Act and related regulations.

The guidance is also in line with the scientific consensus of other governments (Australia, Japan, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia etc.) and scientific bodies (McGill Universities’ Genome Editing for Food Security and Environmental Sustainability, European Academies’ Science Advisory Council, UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, European Commission, etc.) around the world.

Alongside its clarified regulatory policies for plant breeding innovations, Health Canada has also established a new transparency initiative that provides plant breeders the opportunity to inform Canadians about what gene edited plant products will enter the Canadian marketplace. CropLife Canada and our members fully support and look forward to taking part in this initiative. We believe this is an excellent opportunity to build public trust and awareness around plant breeding innovations such as gene edited crops.

CropLife Canada, alongside Seeds Canada, has a number of other activities which are designed to support transparency around plant breeding innovation:

• Best practices for launching of plant breeding innovations in Canada outlining communication best practices with the value chain related to new products, which includes support for existing transparency initiatives;
• The Notice of Submission Project, which provides a public summary of new regulatory submissions;
• A public information hub on industry best practices for plant breeding in support of public transparency in the breeding process and as a resource for Canadian plant breeders; and
• Nature Nurtured: a public engagement initiative specifically for gene editing in plant breeding which describes the science behind its safety and its benefits in an effort to create a transparent dialogue with interested Canadians.

With the adoption of these clarified policies Canada’s plant breeders are well positioned to support agriculture’s efforts in protecting the environment, fighting climate change and contribute to food security while reaching for the ambitious agricultural sector growth targets set by the Economic Strategy Tables.