An interesting approval was granted recently by Health Canada which could have some rather large consequences moving forward.
The federal department has approved the sale of a genetically modified crop Provitamin A Biofortified Rice Event GR2E, otherwise known as Golden Rice.
What makes this interesting is the crop isn’t intended for sale in this country.
Golden Rice was created to help children in developing countries suffering from vitamin A deficiency. The rice contains high levels of Provitamin A.
So why seek approval here?
It seems probable that proponents of the crop are building a portfolio of approvals as they move toward entering the key target markets for Golden Rice.
The International Rice Research Institute has received regulatory approval not only in Canada, but Australia and New Zealand, even though the crop is said not be sold in those countries. The institute’s real goal is to achieve regulatory approval to grow and sell the rice in the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia, but it has yet to submit applications in those markets. Having background data and previous approvals are likely seen as a way to get their foot in the door, or to put any application on a solid foundation.
Genetically modified crops are still facing considerable opposition from a public scared of the science and where such modifications might go, whether being pushed ever further in the lab, or through later mutation and evolution on the field.
But Golden Rice could go a long way to changing those attitudes because there is a direct consumer benefit.
Most of the approved and widely grown GM crops are designed to allow broader use of specific herbicides thanks to tolerances established in the crops.
It’s a double whammy for leary consumers, a genetically modified crop that allows for greater use of herbicides.
Golden Rice is designed to help address child malnutrition in developing countries, which puts a rather different spin on the benefit of GM.
There will be those who see the Health Canada approval as Canada becoming a proponent of GM, and that they should stay out of the debate, especially in the case of a crop not sold here.
But, HC does have responsibilities to deal with the applications it receives, and if the science shows Golden Rice to be safe, then it is difficult to justify anything other than approval.
In terms of the larger picture of GM, Golden Rice is what the best of the technology can be, the modification of a crop to the direct benefit for consumers.
It is easier to convince someone of the value of GM when they can see a direct benefit. A farmer having access to a particular weed killer is far from that in a consumer’s mind.
Calvin Daniels is Editor with Yorkton This Week.
