Plants > Variety Registration > Review  

Summary of Comments and Resulting Proposals over the October, 2000 Proposal
to Amend the Variety Registration System

July 3, 2001

Summary of Key Comments/ Principles from Stakeholders:

1. Mandatory registration should apply to all agricultural crop kinds (including potatoes) and plants with novel traits (PNTs) in Canada.

2. There is a need for the collection of third party valid information on varietal performance.

3. To supplement mandatory prior merit data collected for a variety, entry into performance trials should be a requirement .

4. Performance information would not be used by a recommending committee as part of the merit criteria to determine if a variety should be supported for registration.

5. Where disease and/or quality assessment are mandatory, recommending committees should decide the most appropriate criteria.

6. For certain crops where health and safety requirements exist, required data should be provided at the time of application.

7. Coloured beans and mung beans should be removed from Schedule II of the Seed Regulations.

8. A prohibition on the importation of common seed of unregistered varieties should be considered.

9. Kernel Visual Distinguishability (KVD) requirements for different classes of wheat must be maintained until rapid testing techniques are available to replace KVD as a segregation tool.

10. There is a need to consider whether the variety registration system could be used to prevent the registration of a variety until key industry stakeholders can provide assurance that the variety would not be harmful to major export markets.

11. There is a need to consider the impact of Fusarium Head Blight in several cereal crops (wheat, oats, barley, rye, spelt and triticale).

12. There is both support and lack of support for a veto on disease and/or quality traits.

13. The recommending system/structure provides a forum for the industry to debate the benefits/weaknesses of a particular variety. It is, however recognized that there is a need to review the function and structure ( eg. membership, equality in voting etc.) of recommending committees.

14. Concern was expressed that the variety registration system (including merit requirements, and restrictions on the use of variety names) and the grain grading system excludes the sale/ use of heritage varieties by organic growers/farmers.

Proposals for Future Variety Registration System

SCHEDULE A

Crop Kinds Subject to Prior Merit Assessment (Disease and/or Quality) in Combination with Performance Information

i) Disease and Quality Merit Assessment plus Evidence of Collection of Agronomic Performance Information

Oilseed Flax
Milling Oats
Malting Barley
Milling Wheat
Field peas
Sunflower
Tobacco (flue-cured)

ii) Quality Merit Assessment plus Evidence of Collection of Agronomic and Disease Performance Information

Canola/Oilseed rape
Field Bean (Navy)
Mustard

iii) Disease Merit Assessment plus Evidence of Collection of Agronomic Performance Information

Feed or Forage Barley
Fibre Flax
Forage Oats
Rye, Triticale
Feed Wheat
Spelt

iv) Health and Safety Requirements Only

Industrial Hemp (THC content only
Lupins (alkaloid content only
Potatoes (TGA content only)
Other crops as health and safety issues arise

SCHEDULE B

Crop Kinds Subject to Evidence of Collection of Agronomic, Disease and Quality Performance Information as Appropriate

Lentils Buckwheat
Annual Canarygrass
Chickpeas
Fababeans
Safflower
Forage species
Soybeans

SCHEDULE C

Crop Kinds Subject to Listing-type Registration Information Only

Millet
Mung Beans
Coloured Beans
Corn, field, hybrid
Crop kinds exempt from Schedule II where variety names are used on
non-pedigreed seed (e.g. Kentucky Bluegrass)
Varieties bred in Canada for multiplication under OECD for export
Crop kinds in Schedule II of Seed Regulations not subject to requirements under Schedules A or B

Consequential Amendments to the Regulations

Part I

i) Amend Section 41(c) to remove, "seeding by the importer".

Part III (These changes are over and above those needed to implement the revised registration system)

1. Contract Registration ( CR): 68(3)- change (a) to appropriate isolation requirements depending upon the crop kind and trait. Review registrants responsibilities/ liabilities related to CR varieties contaminating non-CR commodity crops and post harvest responsibilities.

2. Include reference to the Operating document, "Procedures for the Registration of Crop Varieties in Canada".

3. Include a change in the wording of Section 72(g) to add the words, "or incomplete" and replace the word, "variety" with "application", so that Section 72(g) would read, "the information provided to the Registrar is insufficient or incomplete to enable the application to be evaluated".

4. Include a regulation that would require the Registrar to refuse to accept an application from an applicant, for a period of 2 years, who has had an application refused under Sections 72(f) and/or, (i) involving false or misleading information. {Would be consistent with conditions under Part IV of the Seeds Regs.}
    
   Possible wording might be,"The Registrar shall not, before the expiration of a period of 24 months following the refusal of an application, accept an application for variety registration from an individual whose application has been refused for a reason set out in section 72(f) and (i) involving false statements or falsified documents or misleading information."

Schedule II

1. Removal of coloured beans and mung beans.