Canada won't allow field testing of suicide seeds until risks examined

original
Dennis Bueckert
Canadian Press
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

OTTAWA (CP) - Suicide seeds, which are genetically altered to produce sterile plants, won't be planted in Canadian fields any time soon.

Giuliano Tolusso, senior policy analyst at Agriculture Canada, says Canada will respect a moratorium on field testing of Genetic Use Restriction Technology (GURT), which was reaffirmed at a conference in Curitiba, Brazil last month. Canada will allow research on the seeds but only in a laboratory setting, Tolusso said in an interview Monday.

"We won't go to field testing until we gather the scientific and socio-economic information necessary to make an informed decision."

Canada's policy places it within the consensus of countries which are parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity, but on a different track from the United States which has not signed the convention.

Suicide seeds are probably the hottest topic in biotechnology now. They would give seed companies a sure method to protect patent rights on genetically engineered seed, which is gaining use around the world.

Critics say GURT would place farmers at the mercy of seed companies and endanger the ancient tradition of saving seeds from year to year. Countries in less prosperous countries such as India and Brazil have banned GURT.

The technology would relieve seed companies of the need to protect their patents with highly visible legal actions.

Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada for using patented seeds he had not purchased.

Schmeiser lost the case but has since become a folk hero for defenders of organic farming, campaigning across Canada and internationally against genetic engineering in agriculture.

Tolusso said no GURT research is being conducted in Canada now, but the technology does have potentially significant applications.

He said GURT could help isolate genetically modified plants from organic crops, ensuring that the engineered traits, such as an ability to withstand pesticides, don't spread into weeds or neigbouring crops.

Pat Mooney of the Ottawa-based ETC Group, which follows international development issues, said he is pleased Canada has recognized the international moratorium.

He said the meeting in Curitiba was dominated by the GURT issue, and opposition was overwhelming, including a demonstration by peasant women who protested in the conference hall at the height of negotiations.

Mooney said there's strong interest in using GURT for genetically modified trees because tree pollen can travel 2,000 kilometers, making contamination a greater concern than with field plants. Pollen from field plants travels only a few kilometers.
© The Canadian Press 2006