The NFU said “this indication of improper collaboration between the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) and CropLife has shaken confidence in the CFIA’s ability to protect the public interest.
“Public confidence in our food and agriculture sector depends on regulatory oversight that operates transparently and in the public interest at all times,” it said.
The National Farmers Union has been critical of the CFIA proposals because they would have government take a relatively hands-off stance and depend on industry self-regulation to keep harmful varieties from going to market.
The National Farmers Union, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Council of Canadians, Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, Ecology Action Centre, Environmental Defence, Farm Folk/City Folk, Friends of the Earth Canada, Greenpeace Canada, Safe Food Matters, Sierra Club BC, Union Paysanne, Vigilance OGM, United Food and Commercial Workers union and Young Agrarianshave signed a letter to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau asking her to dismiss the president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency over this issue.
The Radio Canada article, OGM : Ottawa présente sa réforme en utilisant les fichiers d’un lobby agrochimique, provided alarming evidence of inappropriate collaboration between our public regulator and the private corporations whose products it regulates, to the point that it appears CropLife is effectively directing the CFIA, the NFU said.
The document sets out CFIA proposals for how regulations governing many gene-edited seeds are to be interpreted, and puts forward a system that would benefit the multinational seed corporations by allowing them to release many new gene-edited seed varieties without independent government safety assessments or other government oversight, and without disclosing they are gene-edited to government or the public, including farmers and our customers, the NFU said.
“The proposed system would harm Canadian farmers who need to know what they are planting in order to manage their farms and maintain access to sensitive markets,” said NFU president, Katie Ward.
“The proposed regulatory guidance would also weaken public trust in our food regulatory system by preventing independent scientific evaluation by government regulators before these products are sold, and allowing them to be released with no reporting to government or the public,“ she said.
