Transparency

Transparency in plant breeding innovation

When it comes to plant breeding innovations, transparency is critically important to support diverse production systems, maintain market access, address value chain market needs and help build public trust. CropLife Canada and its members are fully supportive of transparency efforts that enable the continued successful co-existence of all production systems, including organic and conventional, as we outlined in a letter to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

The plant science industry has been actively engaged in the development and promotion of various transparency initiatives. CropLife Canada and Seeds Canada’s Best practices for launching of Plant Breeding Innovations in Canada includes considerations for communication with the value chain and participating in transparency initiatives such as Health Canada’s transparency initiative and Seeds Canada’s “Canadian Variety Transparency Database”.

The plant science industry promotes important transparency initiatives including: 

• 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 
• “Nature Nurtured” a public engagement initiative for gene editing in plant breeding, supported by 30 agriculture sector organizations, describing the science, safety and benefits of gene editing for Canadians.