Policies of the Canola Council of Canada
Growers, processors, exporters and life science companies all sit down at the same table to determine what policies are required for the canola industry to continue prospering. Together, we develop a shared understanding of the conditions necessary to support our mutual success within our industry and within the business environment created by government.
Freedom to operate for all segments of the value chain
- We support an open, transparent and commercially competitive environment for all participants.
- We support the free and unencumbered use of canola and its products in the Canadian industry.
Stable and open trade, addressing tariff and non-tariff barriers
- We support Canadian trade policy that seeks to secure an open, unencumbered and predictable international trade environment for canola and canola products.
- We support negotiation of agreements with importing countries that protects biological diversity. However, the Biosafety Protocol must be based on science and must not disrupt the movement of living modified organisms (LMOs), particularly for food, feed and processing where there is no intended environmental release.
Responsibly commercializing innovation to meet customer needs
- We lead discussions with registrants and the industry to ensure that pesticide residues in canola meet the requirements of major markets. The Council will not support the use of a pesticide in Canada that will not allow us to meet the requirements of major markets.
- We maintain an industry driven policy on introducing new seed technology such as biotechnology to ensure it meets the requirements of our export markets. The policy has been respected for more than two decades. Any company seeking variety registration in Canada to produce or distribute canola must, before obtaining a full registration in Canada:
- Meet the canola industry criteria for variety recommendation – through the Western Canadian Canola/Rapeseed Recommending Committee (WCC/RRC) for Western Canada, or alternate registration requirements for the rest of Canada.
- Develop a commercialization plan to protect current canola uses and markets in Canada, China, the United States, South Korea, Mexico, Japan and the European Union. For genetically engineered canola seed, this means having full approvals in Canada, China, the United States, South Korea, Mexico and Japan before commercialization.
Efficient, quality-based variety registration system
- We support a timely and flexible registration system that is responsive to industry needs.
- We support a canola variety registration system that:
- Requires a level of seven per cent or less saturated fat in canola oil
- Is based on quality only for merit with evidence of collection for agronomic performance and disease resistance
- Allows for contract production of specialty canola varieties
- We support a voluntary option for products to be eligible for a three-year interim registration based on one or more years of private trial data from at least 12 trial sites, and including:
- Information on agronomics and disease resistance must also be submitted.
- All such registered products will be submitted to the Public Co-op trialing system for verification of quality data.
- The Western Canadian Canola/Rapeseed Recommending Committee (WCC/RRC) should remain the official recommending body.
Equitable, quality-orientated standards
- We support equitable quality-oriented canola grading standards, as well as domestic and international trading standards.
Effective transportation
- We support an accountable, open, competitive and commercial system of oilseed, oilseed product and grain transportation in Canada.
Supporting low-carbon biofuel
- We advocate for the following regulatory and policy instruments to support the development of a biodiesel industry in Canada that maximizes its impact on the domestic economy.
Supporting science-based regulations
- We support food, feed and environmental safety regulations based on proven scientific need. The foundation of regulations related to the introduction of innovative products, including those produced using biotechnology, must be based on food, feed and environmental risk assessments that utilize internationally accepted science-based standards.
Delivering healthy fats and science-based information for consumers
- We support the voluntary reduction of trans and saturated fat from the Canadian diet.
- We support Health Canada’s mandatory labeling guidelines for novel trait products when it is shown substantial equivalence is not present or when it is shown an allergen has been introduced to the product. Furthermore, we support the labeling of such novel trait products on the basis of the product change, not on the process employed to develop the change.
Reliable statistics
- We encourage improvement in consistency and dependability of official statistics on Canadian canola.
