Briefings to government
Comments on the regulation of GM animals
July 2024. CBAN’s comments on Environment and Climate Change Canada’s proposals for changes to the New Substance Notification Regulations re: As per Stakeholder Engagement Document (Pre-Canada Gazette, Part I Consultation).
Comments on removing government safety assessments of foods derived from cloned cattle and swine
May 24, 2024. CBAN’s response to on Health Canada’s proposed revised policy to exempt foods derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) cloned cattle and swine, and their offspring from the novel food regulations, resulting in no government safety assessments or mandatory transparency.
The Need for Transparency and Government Oversight on Gene Editing for the Horticultural Sector
May 10, 2024: Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. All genetically engineered fruits and vegetables, including those produced through the new genetic engineering techniques of gene editing, should be subject to pre-market regulation, mandatory notification to government and the public, mechanisms for government tracking and post-market surveillance, and mandatory point-of-purchase labelling for consumers.
Reverse New GMO Regulatory Guidance, to Ensure Safety and Transparency
May 2023: Twin decisions by the ministers of health and agriculture place the interests of private industry above the federal government’s responsibility to protect human health and the environment, come at the expense of transparency and choice for Canadian farmers and consumers, and threaten the livelihoods of many farmers. The regulatory exemptions need to be immediately reversed.
Comments on the proposed federal Sustainable Agriculture Strategy
March 2023. Canada’s Sustainable Agriculture Strategy should require rigorous regulation of genetic engineering (genetically modified organisms or GMOs), and should support organic agriculture. The strategy discussion document names “gene editing” but does not even mention “organic”.
Comments to ECCC on Part 6 CEPA & New Substance Notification Regulations (Organisms) pre-consultation
January 30, 2022. Response to the Discussion Paper for Consultation: Review of Part 6 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA) and the New Substances Notification Regulation (Organisms), for the regulation of “animate products of biotechnology.”
Comments submitted to ECCC on GM fruit fly “EntoEngine”
January 28, 2022. Comments to Environment and Climate Change Canada in response to the Notification for a fruit fly for use in recombinant protein production: EntoEngine from Future Fields
Comments to the United States Department of Agriculture re: “Darling 58” GM American Chestnut
December 22, 2022. Release of this GE tree in the United States would directly affect the environment in Canada, could threaten the endangered American chestnut in Canada, and could undermine the future of American chestnut restoration efforts in Canada.
Response to ECCC: Protect the Monarch butterfly as an endangered species
December 2022: The COSEWIC recommendation to re-classify the Monarch butterfly as endangered was made in 2016. Monarch butterflies must be urgently classified as endangered, in order to protect then from a multitude of threats along their long migratory routes and at their overwintering sites, including the serious impacts of glyphosate use.
GMO regulatory changes jeopardize safety and remove transparency
July 2022. Briefing for Members of Parliament on concerns over Health Canada’s change to regulatory guidance and planned regulatory change, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s proposals to exempt some genetically engineered seeds from regulation.