Dear friend of Modified,
Do you believe Bayer (Monsanto) and other GMO manufacturers should be able to bring a new GMO on the market in Canada without ANY government safety assessment, and without even having to notify the government at all? Our current regulatory system is far from perfect, but at the very least, companies have, up until now, had to inform Health Canada before putting a new GMO on the market, and been required to go through Health Canada's safety assessment.
Health Canada has now proposed to remove government safety assessments for some new GMOs, particularly those created with gene editing. Gene editing is a new way to alter the genetic material of plants, animals and other organisms. It is faster and cheaper and doesn’t always leave behind DNA from a foreign organism in the final product. However, it still carries risks and is known to result in unexpected effects. Peer-reviewed studies show that gene editing can create genetic errors in the target organism, leading to unexpected outcomes. For example, one tiny genetic change in a DNA sequence can lead to changes in protein composition and impact an organism’s ability to express or suppress other genes.
Initial drafts of the new regulatory guidelines from July 2020 show that Health Canada had originally decided that gene-edited foods would undergo the same risk assessment as other GMOs. But after several meetings with lobbyists for biotech and pesticide companies (CropLife Canada), Health Canada (surprise surprise!) revised its proposed guidelines to remove this regulatory oversight, instead allowing some new GMOs to avoid regulation. In other words, new GMOs would come on the market without the government even knowing they exist, farmers would unknowingly plant them, and consumers would unknowingly eat them. It’s a victory for the industry stakeholders that took part in those meetings but do we really want to allow companies to call the shots on how our food is regulated?
By abdicating its responsibility to ensure food safety, Health Canada would set a dangerous precedent of corporate self-regulation for GMOs. This is bad for food safety and bad for democracy. Independent science, not corporate science, needs to be behind safety assessments.
Let's remind Health Canada they work for us, not for the biotech and pesticide companies trying to dictate our food policies. Send your comments to Health Canada's public consultation period at hc.bmh...@canada.ca (deadline is May 24). Please bcc me and CBAN (modifiedd...@gmail.com and in...@cban.ca) for a chance to win a FREE MODIFIED DVD!! I will be mailing one free DVD of Modified to the first 3 people who write to Health Canada and bcc me!
If you only have a minute and prefer a faster option, you can simply add your name to this pre-written letter to Health Canada: https://cban.ca/take-action/no-exemptions/
And finally, if you're on Twitter, join me and Kids Right To Know for a tweet storm to Health Canada at 2 pm EST today:https://twitter.com/Aubergineblog
In case you need extra motivation to participate:
Biotech and pesticide industry lobby group CropLife Canada is mimicking a grassroots action campaign by hosting an online instant action letter under the banner of “Advancing Agriculture”. They have reported 400 letters were sent to Health Canada from their site. The prepared email asks Health Canada to consider the promise of gene-editing and says “We need to embrace this kind of innovation.” It asks Health Canada to take this into consideration. Their call to action is: “Take action to help advance agriculture in Canada. Every voice counts.” |
For more information about Health Canada's proposed new changes, check out these resources:
Thank you friends for your actions, your support, and solidarity!
Aube
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