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about renewed interest from businesses
looking to be the ones to create said
varieties. Having the door remaining
ajar is critical for private speculation,
Parker noted, adding that companies
like Bayer and Limagrain had struck
Canada off their list until an environment
was created where they could see value
in doing business with Canucks. “Now,
Canada has become a more attractive
place to invest. We have a modern
framework and a safe environment for
intellectual property,” he said.
The monumental shift away from
purchasing one year of seed and getting
three to five for free may be ending, and
Parker can see why. “Farm-saved seed is
a wonderful thing—that farmers have the
ability to save and reuse that innovation.
But, the fundamental question is, ‘If they
are benefiting year after year because of
that innovation, should they contribute
back to the environment to spur on more
innovation?’”
Other jurisdictions decided to answer
that question many years ago. Australia,
the United Kingdom, Argentina, Uruguay
and many others have created systems
unique to their countries allowing farmers
and seed developers to thrive.
Glyn Chancey, executive director of
the Canadian Seed Growers Association
(CSGA), is buoyed by this seedy ballyhoo
as it could spell big gains for Canada in
the global marketplace.
“I’mmore cautiously optimistic than
I’ve ever been about the potential to
actually achieve something because of
the alignment of views that something
needs to be done,” said Chancey. He has
spent his entire working career with the
federal government on plant programs
and international trade, including
major time spent on WTO and NAFTA
negotiations before joining the CSGA
two-and-a-half years ago.
His group, along with four other seed
organizations and CropLife Canada,
form a brain trust that recently released
its Seed Synergy Collaboration Project
“green paper,” a 23-page discourse
on the state of Canada’s seed industry.
Its signatories represent the majority
of Canada’s seed industry. While they
may not be willing to espouse how best
to achieve a solution in Canada’s seed
market, the six companies are in lockstep
that the model must somehow be altered
to fuel investment and innovation in
Canada’s seed sector.
The government signalled the CFIA
to undertake a modernization of its
seed program and, laterally, value
creation came up, explained Chancey.
To that end, his group and others have
responded by pushing for solutions by
2019, the year the government hopes to
make amendments to the Plant Breeders’
Rights Regulations, which means work
must be done immediately to meet hard
deadlines.
The paper identifies six broad areas
that need overhaul and attention:
research and development, market entry
and commercialization, production and
processing, sales and distribution, seed
sector governance and co-ordination
as well as value creation. The group
is openly critical of today’s regulatory
approval process for new varieties,
labelling it as “unpredictable” and
“difficult for smaller businesses to
navigate.” The paper also details plans
for a modernized pedigreed seed
system, which could, if taken to its logical
conclusion, be pro-EPR, or another type
of value creation to drive economic
growth. Throughout the paper, it’s clear
that there is a real level of frustration with
the current system. What’s needed is an
“industry-led, government-run” model,
according to Chancey.
“We have a system in Canada that is a
partnership between government and
industry that has a lot of moving parts,” he
said. “It’s a very intricate and somewhat
messy system that does not allow easily for
“We’re not saying
government needs to go
out and industry come in,
but we’re saying we need
government in certain
areas, and we need to take
collective control of how
the mechanics of this
system operate.”
–Glyn Chancey