Repeat lapses during GM trials at Central Experimental Farm

Monday, October 6, 2014

The Ottawa Citizen reports that documents released under an access-to-information request show that Agriculture Canada made repeat lapses during its 2011 and 2012 trials of genetically modified crops.

A 2012 email from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reveals that, during their 2011 inspections of the trials at Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm, they found GM corn scattered outside the approved area by wildlife and leftover GM material "cultivated with the rest of the surrounding field, increasing the risk of spreading plant material outside the trial site." Even though there were three visits by the CFIA to address these issues, in 2012 GM wheat was once again cultivated along with the rest of the field. The CFIA calls the slip-ups "a situation that really needs to be addressed" and threatens "a formal letter of warning" and denial of funding for future research. BF