Executive summary of the common seed task team final report
Seed regulatory modernization

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is committed to a full-scale review of the following parts of the Seeds Regulations:

• Part I - Seeds other than Seed Potatoes
• Part II - Seed Potatoes
• Part III - Variety Registration
• Part IV - Registration of Establishments that Prepare Seed and Licensing of Operators

The objective of the common seed task team was to provide recommendations in a report to the seed regulatory modernization working group on opportunities for improvement with respect to how the Seeds Regulations govern non-pedigreed seed in Canada. Non-pedigreed seed includes seed that was produced outside of the seed certification system (i.e. not certified or higher generations of pedigreed seed) or seed that does not meet the varietal purity and identity requirements and standards for pedigreed seed. Common seed which may sometimes be referred to brown bag seed is a type of non-pedigreed seed available and sold in Canada. Farm-saved seed for own-use is not subject to the Seeds Regulations, however, common seed subject to the Seeds Regulations could, if not subject to other requirements (e.g., plant breeders' rights, stewardship or intellectual property limitations), be later sold from farm-saved seed crop production.

The Seeds Act and Seeds Regulations have undergone periodic amendments and modernizations since the first laws were established in 1905. During this current initiative the CFIA is looking to update the Seeds Regulations to:

• improve responsiveness and consistency
• reduce complexity
• be adaptable and flexible to address future technical advances and scientific innovation
• protect producers and consumers by strengthening existing requirements

In Canada, seed is sold as either identity-assured and fully traceable pedigreed seed of breeder, select, foundation, registered or certified status, which goes through the seed certification system, or as non-pedigreed seed. The ability to sell certified and non-certified seed of agricultural crop kinds in Canada (with the exception of field corn and hemp) differs from the European Union (EU) where agricultural crop kinds listed in the EU directive must be sold as certified seed. Canada's system is similar to the United States (US) which allows sales for both certified seed and non-certified seed of agricultural crop kinds.

In the current system, pedigreed seed is traceable using a system approach to ensure varietal purity and identity, whereas non-pedigreed seed is sold based on the seed meeting the final standards and requirements in the Seeds Act and regulations. Common seed is non-pedigreed seed sold with a Common No.1 or No.2 grade name. Industry stakeholders identified challenges with transparency and oversight of common seed processing, grading, testing and sale in Canada. These differences identified potential knowledge and enforcement gaps of the requirements to sell non-pedigreed seed in Canada. Furthermore, the lack of clarity on the definition of 'sell' in the Seeds Act to determine when non-pedigreed seed is subject to the requirements and standards in the Seeds Regulations versus farm-saved seed for own use was identified as an issue for stakeholders.

Based on the initial topics suggested by the seed regulatory modernization working group, the task team presented a work plan for the analysis and discussion of the following 9 topics:

• Seed testing and grading
• Variety registration and cancellation
• Variety names
• Identification of common seed processing facilities
• Sale
• Mixtures
• Importing for seeding by the importer (i.e., own use)
• Compliance and enforcement
• Big picture - should common seed sales continue in Canada?

The task team focused on 3 major opportunities for improvement:

• Strengthening existing requirements for common seed sold in Canada, if needed
• Increase compliance, including knowledge and awareness, of the common seed standards and requirements
• Ensure there is common seed available for seed crops subject to variety registration, if needed

The task team discussed multiple options considering the pros/benefits and cons/risks of each possible option prior to providing recommendations on each topic. In expressing the final recommendation results, the concept of a qualified consensus represents the threshold for agreement by the group.

Each task team topic report submitted to the Seed-RM WG is available in the common seed task team final report. A total of 40 options were proposed and discussed by the task team which generated 20 recommendations being presented to the Seed-RM WG.

Topic 1 – Seed testing and grading

• The task team did not reach a qualified consensus concerning the common seed grade name requirements
• The recommendation was split between the members on option 1a to maintain the current system using both the Common No.1 and Common No.2 grade names and option 3 to move to a truth in labelling system and maintain minimum standards
  • The majority of the seed industry task team members support recommending option 1a, whereas the rest of the sector balance was split between options 1a, 2 and 3
  • The discussion for option 3 should be further discussed as part of the transparency and information discussion for common seed in the big picture common seed task team topic
• The information (includes records and labelling) task team should further explore the type of information that would be required if a grade name was eliminated in Canada as this may impact both pedigreed and non-pedigreed seed
• Eliminating the Common No.2 standards should also be further discussed by the import task team
  • There were concerns with using the germination standards for the Common No.1 grade name and some crop specific purity issues (e.g., couchgrass/quackgrass in bromegrass) that should be considered if this option is moved forward
  • The minimum standards may require further considerations if there is only one Common grade name in Canada
• The task team obtained a qualified consensus to recommend option 4 for common seed grader requirements where common seed should be graded by an accredited grader for all crop kinds with the exemption of seeds in the horticulture sectors (e.g., fruits, vegetables, roots, herbs, flowers, etc.)
• The task team obtained a qualified consensus to recommend option 5 for the common seed testing requirements where all common seed sold in Canada should be subject to the testing requirements of laboratories and individuals testing seed listed in paragraph 11(1)(b) in the Seeds Regulations

Topic 2 – Variety registration and cancellation

• The task team members did not reach a qualified consensus
• Members were divided between the following options:
  • Option 3 where there should be flexibility built into the system to allow interested parties to become a maintainer of a registered seed variety upon request prior to the cancellation of the variety by a Registrant and preserve the ability to cancel a variety for cause
  • Option 4 where there should be an application process submitted to a balanced stakeholder committee with a public appeal period to cancel a variety upon request by the Registrant, after a public process the committee will determine whether or not to cancel a variety upon the Registrant's request and preserve the ability to cancel varieties for cause (e.g., health, safety, economic risks, etc.)
    • The majority of the producer members preferred option 3, whereas, the majority of the seed industry members preferred option 4
• The task team recommended a process or system where the sole decision to cancel a variety's registration is not solely with the Registrant when there is not a concern (e.g. health, safety, economic, etc.) with a registered variety
• The majority of the task team members, including all of the seed industry and commodity/value-chain members, supported recommending option 5 where certified seed of a hybrid variety produced directly from sterile and fertile parent lines of different varieties in the previous generation (e.g. hybrid canola, hybrid corn, hybrid cereals, etc.) should not be sold as common seed in Canada but there was not a qualified consensus to recommend this option
• The task team recommends option 6 to promote and reinforce the flexibility in the current system for recommending committees to consider and accept other options to accommodate heritage, heirloom and alternate bred varieties subject to registration in Canada

Topic 3 – Variety names

• The task team did not reach a qualified consensus
• The majority of the task team was split in recommending option 1 to maintain the current system for variety names in Schedule II of the Seeds Regulations and option 3 to introduce a verification system in Canada to allow the use of variety names to be used on seed sold after certified status by requiring it to meet varietal purity standards and requirements
  • The majority of the producer members and majority of the commodity/value-chain members preferred option 1, whereas, the majority of the seed industry members preferred option 3
• There should be a robust consultation policy developed to ensure all stakeholders are able to provide input on proposed change to an incorporated by reference document(s) where the CFIA would be responsible for the document(s)
• The varietal blend topic discussion should be deferred to the information (includes records and labelling) task team

Topic 4 – Identification of common seed processing facilities

• The task team did not reach a qualified consensus
• The majority of the task team members would recommend either option 1 to maintain the current outcome based system which focuses on the final end product, whereas the other members would recommend option 3 to have a new scope for registered seed establishment for common seed facilities by regulating the process to a lesser degree than pedigreed seed
  • The majority of the commodity/value-chain members preferred option 1, whereas the majority of the seed industry and producer members preferred option 3

Topic 5 – Sale

• The task team did not reach a qualified consensus
• The majority of the task team members would recommend either option 1 to maintain the current system of selling common seed in Canada, whereas the other members would recommend option 3 requiring sellers to be identified to the CFIA based on common seed sales
  • The majority of the producer and commodity/value-chain members preferred option 1, whereas the majority of the seed industry members preferred option 3
• The task team members did not support option 2 where sellers of common seed will be required to be identified to the CFIA by declaring if they anticipate on selling common seed
• The information (includes records and labelling) task team should further discuss digitalization and information requirements, including labelling exemption in subsection 22(1) of the Seeds Regulations on common seed sales

Topic 6 – Mixtures

• The task team did not reach a qualified consensus
• The majority of the seed industry and commodity/value-chain members preferred option 3 for common seed mixture would be required to meet a standard and include additional labelling requirements (i.e., truth in labelling) but not be sold with a common grade, whereas the majority of the producer members preferred option 2 where every component of a common seed mixture must meet a standard prior to being mixed together into the final product
  • The majority of the task team members supported recommending option 3 as their preferred or second option

Topic 7 - Importing for seeding by the importer (i.e., own use)

• The task team reached a qualified consensus that the topic on importing seed for personal use should be further discussed by the import task team as it is applicable to pedigreed and non-pedigreed seed imported into Canada

Topic 8 – Compliance and enforcement

• There was a qualified consensus by the task team members with the majority of the stakeholder member groups recommending option 2 where the CFIA should increase the delivery of compliance promotion, increase public transparency on the type of compliance verification activities delivered, increase the number of compliance verification activities delivered and report publicly on the compliance results of these activities related to common seed sold in Canada

Topic 9 – Big picture - should common seed sales continue in Canada?

• There was qualified consensus from all the task team members to recommend option 1 where common seed should continue to be sold and available in Canada
• There was no qualified consensus on the following options but the majority of the task team members would recommend exploring these options:
  • Option 4 to increase transparency and information requirements at the time of sale for common seed
    • The majority of the producer members and seed industry members support recommending this option
  • The topic on transparency and information was previously recommended by the common seed task team to be deferred to the information (includes records and labelling) task team
  • Option 5 to increase the adaptability to review and update the standards and requirements in the Seeds Regulations in the future
    • Furthermore, where IBR is used then the CFIA should be responsible for these documents. The majority of the seed industry and commodity/value-chain members support recommending this option
• The majority of the common seed task team members did not support recommending option 3 to continue to have a labelling exemption under subsection 22(1) for non-pedigreed seeds grown, sold and delivered by a producer on the producer's premises as the definition of 'producer' is open to interpretation
  • In general, the information (includes records and labelling) task team should explore if there should be any exemptions from labelling on seed subject to the Seeds Act during their task team discussions