Press Releases

Monday, May 30, 2005

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

In November of 2004, I wrote you to share some of The United Church of Canada's concerns about genetically modified (GM) foods and related issues. Since that time, our church has continued to reflect upon these matters and to develop specific policy recommendations. As a result, on April 24, 2005, the General Council Executive of The United Church of Canada approved a detailed policy based on the four ethical principles outlined in my previous letter. I enclose here a copy of that policy statement along with a background paper explaining the specific rationale for adopting these positions.

These policy positions are the result of nearly four years of work involving study and consultation with United Church congregations across the country (roughly 40% from rural areas) as well as consultations with theologians, ethicists, agronomists, and other scientists. As you can see, the policy addresses many issues, a few of which I will highlight in this letter.

Firstly, The United Church of Canada calls on the Government of Canada to declare an immediate moratorium on the approval of new genetically modified (GM) food varieties until a more rigorous and independent system for approving, regulating, monitoring, and labelling GM foods has been fully implemented.

We believe that our current regulatory system lacks the necessary transparency, independence, and rigour to truly ensure food safety and ecological sustainability. We are aware that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) claims to be implementing the recommendations of the Royal Society's expert panel (contained in the report "Elements of Precaution"), but this process has been exceedingly slow and as yet has not led to the implementation of many of the panel's key recommendations. Meanwhile, more and more GM food varieties are being approved using a system that may be incapable of detecting serious problems. For this reason, an immediate moratorium on the approval of new GM food varieties must be put in place.

While we do not oppose a regulatory framework that assesses all "novel" foods, we do believe that specific attention needs to be given to the unique risks inherent in foods produced through rDNA ("genetic engineering") techniques. In particular, GM foods must be subjected to a truly integrated testing regime which assesses whole foods-not just genes and proteins in isolation.

To ensure independence and transparency, we call for the establishment of an independent, public agency working at "arms length" from other governmental bodies to test and monitor all GM foods. Unlike the CFIA, this agency would have an exclusive mandate to protect food safety and ecological sustainability (with no mandate-implicit or explicit-to promote or facilitate the biotech industry). As well, this new agency would actually carry out the testing process rather than simply analyzing test results submitted by an applicant seeking the approval of a new GM food variety. All testing results produced by this agency would be published and be made available for peer review to ensure the highest possible scientific standards.

Given this policy position, The United Church of Canada would like to express its concern that Bill C-27 (The Canadian Food Inspection Agency Enforcement Act), currently being considered by Parliament, could actually weaken Canada's ability to independently regulate food safety by forcing Canada to harmonize our regulations with those of other nations. We believe that regulation can only truly be considered as "smart" when it is implemented in the public sphere with the greatest possible attention to rigour and safety.

The United Church of Canada also believes that some aspects of GM food technology posing significant health or ecological risks should simply be prohibited. This would include the use of antibiotic resistance marker genes, the use of GM food crops to produce potentially harmful pharmaceuticals and chemicals, and the introduction of GM fish. At the same time, the Government of Canada should commission authentically independent study into some of the key unanswered questions involving GM foods, including the safety of some of the vectors and genetic promoters employed in rDNA techniques as well the long-term stability of GM crops.

The United Church of Canada supports mandatory labelling for all GM foods. We are aware that some attempt has been made to formulate a voluntary labelling standard, but that standard is very weak and has not, to date, been implemented to any significant extent. Mandatory labelling seems to be the only tool that can truly ensure the right of citizens to choose whether or not they wish to consume GM foods-a right which we support as a church.

Regarding issues more directly related to questions of social justice, The United Church of Canada supports the right of each nation and each political jurisdiction to choose whether or not they wish to allow the introduction of GM foods and crops. We therefore call on the federal government to ensure that Canada's trade and aid policies do not promote-directly or indirectly-the adoption of GM foods in those countries that have not explicitly chosen to do so. In particular, we call on the government to ensure an adequate supply of non-GM food for emergency assistance.

Finally, The United Church wishes to reiterate our opposition to the patenting of genes, gene sequences, and living organisms. We call on the federal government to make such patents illegal in Canada and to explicitly guarantee the right (not simply the privilege) of farmers to save, reuse, and exchange seeds-including those protected by plant breeders' rights.

The issues related to GM foods are many and complex, so we have only highlighted a few key points in this letter. The attached policy and background report give far more details and present the rationale for each policy position.

We look forward to hearing the reflections and response of various government ministries and agencies regarding these recommendations. Thank you for the attention you have given to these matters.

Yours truly,

Rev. Dr. Jim Sinclair, General Secretary of the General Council
The United Church of Canada

cc.

Hon. Andy Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh, Minister of Health
Hon. St éphane Dion, Minister of the Environment
Hon. David Emerson, Minister of Industry
Hon. Aileen Carroll, Minister of International Cooperation
Hon. Jim Peterson, Minister of International Trade
Hon. Stephen Harper, Leader of the Opposition and the Conservative Party
Hon. Gilles Duceppe, Leader of the Bloq Québecois
Hon. Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party
Hon. Diane Finley, Conservative Spokesperson on Agriculture and Agri-Food
Hon. Denise Poirier-Rivard, BQ Spokesperson on Agriculture and Agri-Food
Hon. Charlie Angus, NDP Spokesperson on Agriculture and Agri-Food
Hon. R éal Ménard , BQ Spokesperson on Health
Hon. Jean Crowder , NDP Spokesperson on Health
Hon. James Rajotte, Conservative Spokesperson on Industry
Hon. Paul Crête, BQ Spokesperson on Industry
Hon. Brian Masse, NDP Spokesperson on Industry
Hon. Helena Guergis, Conservative Spokesperson on International Cooperation
Hon. Diane Bourgeois, BQ Spokesperson on International Cooperation
Hon. Bev Desjarlais, NDP Spokesperson on International Development
Hon. Pierre Paquette, BQ Spokesperson on International Trade
Hon. Peter Julian, NDP Spokesperson on International Trade