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The applicant must ensure that the trial seed and/or plant
material are transported in clearly identified, secure containers and are kept
separate from other seed and/or plant material.
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Seeding, transplanting and site maintenance machinery and
equipment must be cleaned at the trial site to prevent dispersal of plant
material. Surplus seed or seedlings, and any plant material remaining after
transplantation, that is to be destroyed, will be disposed of by autoclaving,
burning, or burial at a depth of one metre. Composting of this material is not
an acceptable destruction method.
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In the case of accidental release, plants from unrecoverable
tuber pieces must be destroyed by spraying with a herbicide or by tillage, the
sites must be marked and monitored, and the PBO notified immediately. Plants from
unrecoverable seed or seedlings must be controlled by spraying with a broad
spectrum herbicide.
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Potato plants in the trial must be separated from other potato
plants by a minimum distance of one blank row (~1 metre).
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Surplus seed or seedlings, and any plant material remaining
after transplantation, that is to be destroyed, will be disposed by
autoclaving, burning, or burial at a depth of two metres. Composting of this
material is not an acceptable destruction method.
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Measurements from permanent surrounding landmarks must be
provided for precise location of the site. Markers must also be placed at all
corners of the trial site to identify the confined field trial boundaries. The
markers must be obvious, identifiable and in place for the growing seasons of
both the trial and the post-harvest restriction period.
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Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates must be taken
precisely at all corners of each trial site. The GPS coordinates of each confined research
field trial site location must be submitted to the PBO within 7 days after planting.
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If a chemical treatment is used on the trial site that requires
a time until safe entry, a sign must be posted at the access to the trial
indicating the date and time of spraying as well as the time until safe entry.
This condition is intended to protect the health and safety of the CFIA inspection staff.
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No plant material from these trials may enter the human food or
livestock feed chain unless approved by Health Canada or the Feeds Section,
CFIA, respectively.
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During the trial growing season the trial site must be monitored
at least weekly to ensure that all related species are removed.
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Harvesting machinery and equipment will be cleaned of all
residual plant material at the trial site prior to being moved to other
locations. Plant material harvested, that is not to be retained, must be
destroyed by burning, autoclaving, or deep burial (see instructions in point
18). Composting of this material is not an acceptable destruction method.
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Harvested seed and/or propagable plant material from the
confined research field trial may only be retained if requested in the
application and authorized by the PBO. Any harvested seed and/or plant
material must be clearly labelled, securely transported, and stored separately
from other seed and/or plant material.
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Applicants must provide the PBO in writing within 15 working days after
harvest with information on:
- quantity of seed and/or plant material harvested at the trial sites
- date(s) of harvest
- quantity of seed and/or plant material disposed of
- location, method and date of disposal
- quantity of seed and/or plant material retained and stored
- storage location and method
Disposal of plant material (propagable and/or non-propagable) includes
harvested plant material as well as residual plant material on the trial
site.
If a trial is destroyed prior to harvest applicants must provide the
PBO in writing within 15
working days after destruction with information on the trial’s growth
stage at the time of destruction, as well as the date and method of
destruction.
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A detailed trial log book must be kept. Records of the confined
research field trial, including current season and post-harvest site
monitoring, activities related to the trial site compliance, cleaning of
machinery and transportation, disposition and storage of all harvested seed and
plant material, must be maintained by the applicant and made available to the
CFIA upon request. A
report summarizing the completed trial and experimental data, including any
amendments to the original protocol, must also be made available to the
CFIA upon request.
Detailed records requirements can be found in section 3.8 of Regulatory
Directive 2000-07.
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Seed or other propagable plant material from the confined
research field trial must be harvested unless otherwise approved by the
PBO. All plant residue
remaining on the trial site must be soil incorporated or destroyed by
incineration as soon as possible after harvest. Applicants are encouraged to
destroy all non-propagable (residual) plant material in a manner whereby the
material is not easily distributed by wind or local fauna yet does not promote
seed dormancy. If the applicant decides to burn the plant material,
incineration must be complete.
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The trial sites, including the 10 m
zone around the trial sites, must not be used to grow potatoes for two years
following harvest of the trials. During the two post-trial growing seasons, the
trial site, including the 10 metre zone, must be monitored at least once every
two weeks to ensure that all volunteer plants are removed before flowering.
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Applicants must notify the PBO in writing of crop species planted on
trial sites for each year the sites are subject to post-harvest restriction.
This notification must be received every year by June 15.
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For the disposition by burial of potatoes with novel traits
produced in confined research field trials and that have not received
environmental, feed or food safety approvals from the CFIA and Health Canada, the
following will apply:
a) The potatoes must be buried to a depth sufficient to allow for a minimum
of 5 feet or more of soil cover.
b) It is recommended that applicants consult with the appropriate provincial
and/or municipal authorities to determine if disposition by burial of regulated
potatoes with novel traits is acceptable.
c) The applicant must provide the Plant Biosafety Office with a record of
disposition identifying the date and site of disposition, the source and line
identity of the potatoes (including CFIA trial number) and the quantity
of each line disposed of, no later than 48 hours after completion of the
burial.
d) The disposition of the potatoes must be witnessed by a CFIA inspector, or an acceptable
alternate (e.g. provincial agronomist). In the
case of an alternate, the applicant must provide an affidavit signed by the
alternate attesting that the potatoes were buried in accordance with the
requirements outlined herein.
e) If all of the above conditions have been met, monitoring of the burial
site will not be required by the CFIA. It is the responsibility of
the applicant to determine if site monitoring is required by provincial and/or
municipal authorities.