b'ers, but for the most part, certainlythat most gene editing technologiesgene editing, which is now part of from a university perspective, publicwill not require additional regulatoryconventional agriculture. Virtually researchers just dont have resourceoversight. They write that its essen- 100 per cent of the corn and canola capacity in terms of greenhousestial that Canada have a similar regula- grown in Canada now are all herbi-or land for field trials to physicallytory framework to ensure Canadiancide tolerant varieties, Smyth says. separate parallel lines for research,producers remain competitive.They might not be genetically Smyth says.If it takes longer for a gene-editedmodified varieties, but they would In their submission to Healthvariety to be approved in Canadacertainly all be PNT varieties, and Canada as part of the public consulta- than in other countries, Canadaswell over 90 per cent of Canadas tions, Smyth and USask public policycompetitiveness will decline, whichsoybeans would be PNTs as well. professor Peter Phillips note thatcan signal investors to seek alterna- Why would they say these are Canada competes for internationaltive markets for new crop varietyunique or novel varieties when they commodity sales with countries likedevelopment investments, they write.constitute virtually 100 per cent of Argentina, Australia, Brazil and theWe have to reduce the regula- Canadas production capacity in U.S., which have already indicatedtory burden of plant technologies likethose crops? 22GERMINATION.CAJULY 2021'