Biotechnology and New Crops-The Grain Industry in Canada (PRB98-2e)

Parliamentary Research Branch

PRB 98-2E

Prepared by:
Sonya Dakers, Science and Technology Division
Jean-Denis Fréchette, Economics Division
September 1998

Although the term "biotechnology" is widely used, there is considerable confusion about what it means. According to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), the term refers to the application of science and engineering to the direct use of living organisms, or parts or products of living organisms, in their natural or modified forms. The development of new crop varieties by traditional cross-breeding is a biotechnological process, as is the brewing of beer through fermentation.

Recombinant–DNA technology is the most recent advance in this area. Known as "genetic engineering," it involves the application of molecular biochemical techniques to develop new varieties or organisms, including microorganisms, crop plants, and animals. While traditional cross-breeding techniques allow genetic combinations within the same, or closely related species, rDNA techniques permit the transfer of genes across species boundaries, a more controversial adaptation.

The major federal statutes applicable to products of biotechnology are administered by Health Canada, Environment Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The Canadian regulatory system as outlined in the 1993 Regulatory Framework regulates the product not the process; the risk-based safety assessments apply to all products, regardless of how they were developed.

Biotechnology offers enormous advantages in virtually all aspects of crop and animal production in the Canadian agricultural sector. In August 1996, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada published regulations covering the production of new crop varieties created using recombinant-DNA technology, biofertilizers, biofeeds, and veterinary biologics.

Given the potential for organisms such as plants to spread and transfer genetic material inadvertently to non-target species, the regulatory process attempts to assess potential outcomes carefully before any modified organisms and plants are released into the environment.

Some modified organisms or plants have already been approved and made available to consumers; examples are genetically altered tomatoes, rapeseed and soybeans. It is expected that cheese, wine and dairy products might soon be produced using genetically engineered micro-organisms. Although Canada continues to delay introduction of milk produced with recombinant bovine somatropin (rbST), a growth hormone produced through the genetic engineering of bacteria, this hormone was approved for use in the U.S. in February 1994.

"Functional foods," another category of designer foods coming to supermarket shelves, have had elements added to enhance their ability to fight a specific disease. The products tend to blur the line between foods and drugs and consequently pose a problem for Health Canada, which does not allow food products to make medical claims. Health Canada is in the process of developing policy in this area.

Farmers are starting to ask about their future role with respect to food, since these new technologies will be controlled by private companies that determine what crops to grow, how to grow them and the products that will be applied to them.