[All] Fwd: [cban e-News] Urgent Action Alert: Send your instant letter to stop seed regulation changes, Deadline May 23

Tue May 21 13:05:17 EDT 2013

Please send this quick letter by Thurs.
Eleanor
 ---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Lucy Sharratt - CBAN Coordinator" <coordinator at cban.ca>
Date: May 21, 2013 12:52 PM
Subject: [cban e-News] Urgent Action Alert: Send your instant letter to
stop seed regulation changes, Deadline May 23
To: <cban-e-news at cban.ca>
Cc:

Urgent Action Alert: Send your letter before end of day May 23, 2013

Stop Corporate Control Over Seeds: Stop Changes to Canada's Seeds
Regulations

You can now send a letter instantly by clicking here:
http://www.cban.ca/Resources/Topics/GE-Crops-and-Foods-Not-on-the-Market/Alfalfa/Letter-to-stop-seed-regulation-changes

For more information please see below. Thank you for your action!

********

Action Alert– Public Input on Regulations Amending the Seeds Regulations,
Canada Gazette Part 1 VOL. 147, NO. 10 — MARCH 9, 2013

Deadline for submissions -- May 23, 2013

The National Farmers Union is calling upon all concerned farmers and allies
to submit comments about significant regulatory changes to Seed Variety
Registration.

The proposed regulatory change has been posted in the Canada Gazette Part 1
and will be passed into law as is unless large numbers of citizens make
their opposition known.

The changes proposed will have two critical effects: move registration of
soybeans and all forages from Part I to Part III of Schedule III under the
Seeds Regulations; and permit registrants to cancel the variety’s
registration. This will make seed sales of that variety illegal and require
that crops grown from that variety be classified as sample or lowest price
and quality.

Crop kinds under Part I will continue to be treated the way all varieties
have been until now; before a new variety is registered it must meet merit
criteria (i.e., it must perform as well as or better than reference
varieties for one or more criteria established for that crop kind); and it
must be recommended by a Recommending Committee of experts familiar with
the crop. Under Part III, a variety can be registered without field-testing
or proof of merit. The registering company only has to provide basic
variety  registration information to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA).

The proposed change in regulation will also allow companies that have
registered a variety to de-register it without giving reasons or notice.

The implications of these regulatory changes for farmers are far-reaching.
If adopted, the regulation will:

• Permit companies to take varieties off the market whenever they like,
which will increasingly force farmers to use only varieties subject to
royalties under the Plant Breeders Rights Act or varieties with gene
patents, and thereby pay more for seed.
• Empower companies to introduce new varieties of soybeans and forage crops
– including alfalfa – that have not been field-tested for merit and which
therefore may not provide any benefit to farmers.
• Allow seed companies to transfer to farmers’ shoulders all risks of poor
seed/crop performance when planting varieties that have not been
field-tested by independent third parties.
• Transfer decision-making about which new varieties are introduced, and
when, from a transparent, publicly accountable process based on expert
advice offered by Recommending Committees to a behind-closed-door process
controlled by private seed companies.
• Letting companies de-register varieties will permit companies to
unilaterally stop farmers from accessing and using perfectly good varieties
developed through long-term collaboration among farmers, public plant
breeders and international seed collections.

For more information about Seed Variety Registration:
• The National Farmers Union’s submission to CFIA:
http://www.nfu.ca/story/nfu-comments-regulations-amending-seeds-regulations
• The National Farmers Union 2009 press release and backgrounder on the
variety registration system:
http://www.nfu.ca/story/government-ignores-concerns-variety-registration-change-and-plows-ahead-anyway
• The Proposed Regulations: ARCHIVED — Regulations Amending the Seeds
Regulations
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2013/2013-03-09/html/reg1-eng.html#reg
• The CFIA’s Regulatory Impact Statement: ARCHIVED — Regulatory Impact
Analysis Statement Regulations Amending the Seeds Regulations
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2013/2013-03-09/html/reg1-eng.html#rias

Deadline for submissions is May 23, 2013

All submissions must:
1.      cite the Canada Gazette, Part I,and
2.      the date of publication of the notice (March 9,2013), and
3.      be addressed to:
Michael Scheffel, National Manager, Seed Section, Canadian Food Inspection
Agency,
59 Camelot Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9
tel.: 613-773-7142  fax:613-773-7144 email:
Michael.Scheffel at inspection.gc.ca

********
Press Release from  the National Farmers Union:

Proposed Changes to Seeds Act Regulations Should Concern All, says NFU

May 13, 2013 - (Saskatoon) - The National Farmers Union (NFU) urges farmers
and all Canadians interested in food and seed to respond by May 23 to the
federal government’s proposed changes to the Seeds Act Regulations. The
changes will have far-reaching implications that should concern all farmers
and the general public, and are being made through the Canada Gazette
process.

“The Seeds Act and its regulations were originally set up to protect
farmers and all of Canadian agriculture from unscrupulous seed dealers and
poor quality seed,” said Terry Boehm, NFU President. “But the proposed
changes to the regulations clearly show that the federal government is
prepared to let seed companies decide what farmers can and cannot use for
seed.”

The proposedchanges will eliminate the requirement for independent
field-testing and minimum performance standards before new varieties of
soybeans and all forages (hay crops such as alfalfa) can be registered.
 They will also allow seed companies to unilaterally de-register varieties
at will, regardless of their value to farmers.

“If companies are allowed to de-register varieties, they can stop farmers
from accessing and using perfectly good varieties,” said Boehm. “We expect
seed companies will use this opportunity to put farmers on a ‘variety
treadmill’, de-registering old varieties so that the only varieties
available to them will be expensive new varieties subject to  patent
restrictions or royalty charges under Plant Breeders Rights.”

“Variety trials ensure that new varieties are a fit for Canadian growing or
market conditions,” said Ian Robson, NFU Region 5 (Manitoba) Coordinator.
“Without independent testing, we won’t know if a new variety will be any
good. This means that farmers will become the field-testers, and we will be
taking risks that will cost us if it  doesn’t perform.”

Currently a committee of experts for each crop must recommend it, based on
performance, before a new variety can be registered. The proposed
regulation will eliminate that step, allowing seed companies to register a
new variety by simply supplying their own basic information to the CFIA.

“The new system will allow pretty much automatic registration of soy and
forages,” said Robson. “GM alfalfa still needs to be registered before it
can be sold in Canada. The changes make it so decisions to register
varieties are based more on benefit to the seed company than on the
interests of farmers and the people their products feed. The NFU supports
continuation of the current variety registration system, where
recommendations for registration are based on data from independent testing
assessed by crop variety experts.”

Proposed amendments to the variety registration regulations under the Seeds
Act have been posted in the Canada Gazette Part 1. Public comment on the
changes is being accepted until May 23, 2013.

-30_

For more information:
Terry Boehm, President – (306) 255 2880 or (306) 257 3689 or (306)
255-7638(Cell)
Ian Robson, Region  5 (Manitoba) Co-ordinator (204) 858 2479

********

Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental Justice
Suite 206, 180 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 1P5
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext. 25
Fax: 613 241 2506
coordinator at cban.ca
www.cban.ca

Donate today to support the campaigns! www.cban.ca/donate

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