Agriculture Committee on Feb. 15th, 2011

[Michelle McMullen]

I think a really important note is that every farmer who grows for an export market is going to be signing a contract with an exporter, and that contract is going to stipulate the management practices required, whether the customer wants organic or conventionally grown non-GM crop. If there's a demand, our producers will meet that market demand and I think we've shown that. The fact that our exports to Japan...we're now the number two supplier for non-GMO soybeans for food production, at 350,000 metric tonnes. That just shows our commitment to meeting the needs of our export markets.

There very well could come a time in some markets in Southeast Asia, with the development of new biotech soybeans that have specialty traits, that we can be exporting specialty soybeans that are from biotech as well. We have to allow our producers to have access to opportunities that can add value and that fit best into their farm operations. Our farmers are recognized around the world for the quality of the product they produce in terms of soybeans. We may be a small player in terms of production—representing less than 2% of the world's total soybean production—but we do have that strong reputation for supplying a top-quality Canadian product.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

Is there still time for Mr. Van Tassel to answer the question?

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Did you want to comment?

[William Van Tassel]

I believe it's all right. I agree with them.

[Jim Gowland]

I have just one quick comment.

I think basically it doesn't matter what system we're working with—whether it's organic, whether it's the non-GM, whether it's GM—there's opportunity there for growth, but the big growth is going to be in the whole aspect of traceability. Consumers want to know where it comes from, to be able to segregate and trace where that food was from. I think that's probably the biggest opportunity we have. It doesn't matter what type of production system it is.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Thank you, Jim.

Ms. Bonsant, you have five minutes.

[France Bonsant, Bloc, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Gowland, you said that labelling is becoming increasingly necessary, because it offers details to consumers who want to choose between GM and non-GM products.

[Jim Gowland]

Certainly the traceability side of things is becoming more and more important. How we go about making sure consumers know, that's through our legislative process, the demand that's there, and the regulatory side of things. I think we have to step up to the plate. If that's what the consumers want, if they see value in it and there's value derived back to the grower and industry, I think that's a part we have to evaluate.

[William Van Tassel]

The FPCCQ has never come out against labelling, but we have to make sure that producers don't pay the costs. But that is what happens in most cases. That is something that should be made clear.

[France Bonsant, Bloc, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Ms. Koberinski, how would you respond?

[Jodi Koberinski]

In terms of the labelling costs coming back to the consumer, the organic market is already bearing the cost of its own labelling program. We provide ourselves with an internal food traceability system from seed all the way to the consumer's plate. Within 24 hours, if there's an issue, if somebody wants to know, you can find out where your food came from by tracing the system.

That there would be a cost associated with labelling GMOs is appropriate to be borne by the industry, just as it's a cost to us to label our product as organic.

[France Bonsant, Bloc, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Ms. McMullen, I have a question concerning the 65% of genetically modified soybean products that remain in Canada, and the 35% that are non-GM and are destined for export markets. Are soy beverages produced in Canada necessarily made with GM products?

You do not understand the question? You said that 65% of soy products remain in Canada, and that the remaining 35% are non-GM and destined for export markets.

There are many soy beverages here in Canada that are produced in Canada. Are all those soy beverages part of that 65% of products containing GMOs?

[Michelle McMullen]

A lot of our production does go to export, but when it comes to soy foods in Canada, there is a small market that will use non-GMO soybeans produced in Canada.

Now, when you're talking about a soy food, you have to look at the label. If it says “whole Canadian soybeans”, you know that it's going to be from a Canadian product. If it's a fractionated product, because we don't have those capabilities domestically, you're probably looking at a U.S. non-GMO soybean.

Depending on the type of tofu or soy milk that's produced by a Canadian company, you can usually tell by the label. It will say whether it's organic or conventional. But we do have that market here, yes.

[France Bonsant, Bloc, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

I was wondering about that, because my daughter consumes organic products and only buys soy drinks. I wanted to make sure that the drinks produced in Canada with soybeans do not contain GMOs.

[Michelle McMullen]

Yes, that is correct.

[France Bonsant, Bloc, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Van Tassel, you also spoke about a lack of research funding.

Are you concerned that, if there is less money for public researchers, the Monsantos and Pfizers of the world will become increasingly powerful, and we will see a monopoly develop in Canada and Quebec for all things seed-related?

[William Van Tassel]

For the time being, producers have choices. For straw cereals, they have more than a few choices, because the companies are not really in it for the long term. However, producers have to be there for the long term and be sustainable and competitive.

For example, if a producer's wheat crop does not increase, if he has to contend with such diseases as wheat blight, if the public sector no longer invests and the crop is no longer profitable, then the producer will have to grow other crops.

[France Bonsant, Bloc, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

I have nothing against GMOs. I have no strong objections regarding GMOs, but I do want to have a choice and know what is in my plate. As Mr. Easter said, if GMOs were as good as they say they are, people would not be afraid to mention them on their labels.

You have an organic farm. Have you suffered a negative economic impact because your neighbours' crops are not organic and might have contaminated your land?

[Jodi Koberinski]

Yes, this has been a problem since GM canola came on board years ago and basically, in one season, decimated the organic canola industry, which was our strongest growth industry in organics at the time. It dried up our European market.

So we had that wave of canola and, as I mentioned earlier, Triffid flax, which was actually pulled from the market. It was the Flax Council that actually asked to have the seed deregulated, because they didn't want their export markets drying up. So we had that situation again, in which prairie and Ontario farmers lost organic flax markets, and those markets have not come back.

What we find is that the seed sellers are able.... It's two to three years before they can rebuild a market after an event, but those farmers who are producing for those seed dealers aren't necessarily staying in the game. They're going to other crops or, in some cases that we know of, have lost farms or have had to go back to conventional methods, despite wanting to be participating in an organic paradigm, simply because they had no way of selling what it was they knew how to grow.

There is an economic impact when drift happens.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Your time is up, Ms. Bonsant.

Mr. Storseth, you have five minutes.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I should say at the beginning that I will be sharing my time with the parliamentary secretary.

Thank you very much for coming in today, ladies and gentlemen. It has been a very good debate.

I wanted to follow up on one question that Mr. Valeriote brought forward on the issue of industry self-regulation. Where is the industry at in making progress on the issue of self-regulation?

[Jim Gowland]

Certainly, on self-regulation, the Canadian Soybean Council and other exporters, seed companies and seed institutions, research, and government, are in constant discussion about what needs to be done and what protocols need to be put in place.

In the soybean industry, we fall under the CIPRS program. The exporters go through that. That's a program administered by the Canadian Grain Commission that can establish.... I guess it's a third party assessment of how those regulations or contractual arrangements are brought together and put into place.

Something else as far as an industry goes--I'd like to let Michelle talk about it--is a situation on how we move forward in looking at all the market access types of issues. We have certainly been pushing forward as an industry for a while now to move forward with that type of issue.

I'll let Michelle talk about that.

[Michelle McMullen]

I think Jim is right. We're really lucky in the Canadian soybean industry to have the Canadian identity preserved recognition system. This is a system that's administered by the government, by the Canadian Grain Commission. It's something that allows us to have a competitive advantage, because it puts the checks and balances in place. Every process starts with certified seed. In order to have a true IP Canadian soybean crop, it all starts with certified seed. There are checks and balances through the whole process. That whole industry value chain needs to be a part of that.

In addition, we haven't had any significant market access issues as a soybean industry--knock on wood. We've been very lucky, but that's not to say that with the sophisticated testing protocols that William talked about, we're not at risk. Whether it's low-level presence in terms of a new GM trait, or whether we're talking about maximum residue levels in pesticides, with the increased sophistication, there are issues.

As an industry, we're fortunate that we can proactively discuss within the industry what happens, the “what if?” situations, so that we can develop a comprehensive proactive protocol. Then we can work with the government if there ever is a trade issue, such as what was mentioned before, the Triffid flax issue, or any other market access issues that are technical or trade barrier issues.

We need to be progressive and we need to work together, because the whole industry is in this together. If there is an issue, it doesn't matter whose fault it is, because we're all affected and we're all impacted. Also, it may not affect just our industry. It may affect other industries that are looking to Canada as a supplier of a product.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

That's excellent.

You talked about growth in the soybean exporting market from 700,000 to 2.6 million tonnes. Was that just organic growth? In the organic industry or soybeans as a whole...?

[Jim Gowland]

That's all soybean production, yes.