Is the mustard market drop because of EU GM issues?

[FifthColumn]

Good release today from the SK Mustard Development Commission. Good approach to reassuring customers and the trade.

http://www.saskmustard.ca/grower/media/Oct-7-09_EuropeanMarketsRemainOpentoCanadianMustard.pdf

[charliep]

For what it is worth, here is the EU guidelines on the presense of "adventitious" registered GMO crops.

Quote - All foods and feed produced from GMOs, including products that no longer contain detectable traces of GMOs must be labeled. The allowable adventitious presence level for EU-approved varieties of GMOs for use in food and feed, is set at 0.9 percent. Above this level, all products must be labeled. Operators must demonstrate that the presence of GM material was adventitious or technically unavoidable. The provision that allowed an adventitious presence level of 0.5 percent for GM varieties, which are not yet formally approved but which have received a positive EU risk assessment, expired in April 2007.


[URL="http://useu.usmission.gov/agri/GMOs.html"]labeling[/URL]

[parsley]

Calling people who buy Dijon mustard "irrational" is a good tactic?

Remember when coke changed their formula?

The strategy,though was that Canadian farmers are the last to be informed that mustard being recalled from shelves in the EU?

How many have a jar of Dijon in your fridge?

How many farmers were informed that mustard was being pulled from EU shelves?

I'll bet the trade and all bureaucrats knew and didn't bother to tell you.

Nobody looks at it from the farmers point of view:

Why clean your flax first, if there is a silent embargo? Plan to clean the beans first.

You see, farmers have some priorities, too. Pars

[parsley]

charliep,

The .0001 and the .0000000000079 and the .00345 designation, revised and new ones added daily, is a regulator's dream for expanding a department.

[FifthColumn]

Parsley -- on your blog you ask the question "Do EU Consumers Want to Buy GM Mustard?" On an earlier thread you ask "Did you ever ask the people who make the mustard if they want to buy GM mustard?"

Do you realize that comments like this leave the false impression that mustard in Canada has been genetically-modified and further, that there would be some sort of health risk even if it were true?

Yes, there will be traces of EU-approved GM canola in mustard shipments to Europe, but no doubt that's been the case for more than a decade. Why are you needlessly raising alarm bells now by implying our mustard shipments contain unapproved GM mustard seed?

Does it not occur to you that misleading comments like yours are what fuels the hysteria that in turn causes stores in the EU to pull product from their shelves? How are your comments helpful to Canadian farmers, and in particular, Canadian mustard producers?

[furrowtickler]

I agree Pars, you are sending a very bad massage accross the net. Good for you for being organic, but do not dare ruin our market with B.S. like that. It is not and never will be G.M. Mustard. And further more, if or when there is concreate evidence of any G.M. traces found in anything you'd be best to keep the peace with those around you. Champion what you have and keep your nose out of business you know little of.
Go ahead and make fun of my spelling, but I hope you get the point loud and clear lady!

[parsley]

I was previously questioned on this site about consumers. What do I know about consumers? How do farmers determine what consumers in a lucrative market want? How do we find out? How did I know what consumers like or did not like?
So rather than me say what I "felt", I posted what the Swiss legislated.

Swiss population stated very definitely what they wanted. Read it.

That is my point. They legislated what they wanted and I posted it on my blog.

Pars

[parsley]

I also emailed Kevin Hursh and he emailed back and said:

"Contrary to comments posted with your blog, there are no GM mustard crops."
---------------------------------------
But I had read there were field trials done in Canada. Organic farmers sometimes clean snd buy seed from seed growers. That is what they do....grow seed. But what if there is contamination? Read the reports I read and sent to Kevin:
_____________________________________

GM releases of Major Agricultural GM Crops

Field Tests

http://www.gm-inspectorate.gov.uk/documents/ANON-GM_crops_routine_surveillence_Oct-Dec_05_final.pdf



Page 7


I realize there is no commercial status. Also read:

http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/66.mustard.html that they don't know what they are talking about either.


Seems there has been GM Mustard activity in Canada. Right?

Now, considering what happened to flax, would you agree there are legitimate concerns by farmers? There is GM testing in canada.

Product has been pulled off the shelves. Yes.

That's a worry for organics as well.

As farmers, do you want to know or do you want to pretend no GM has been grown and no GM can contaminate and no
mustard has been pulled off the shelf?

Pars

By the way, Kevin Hursh later emailed me back and said:

"This is news to me. Thanks for passing this along. I'll investigate further."

[dave4441]

Greenpeace is winning this round.

[charliep]

Kevin will have some answers on the research front. Know activity around developing canola oil type
mustards for brown soil zones.

Likely useless information but note that GMO-Compass refers to Brassica Juncea field trials (whatever
size of plot/field that is) in North America. Someone will correct me but I believe this is oriental
mustard. Europe is doing GM research on Sinapis alba (yellow mustard). Brown mustard is called
Brassica rupestris (used in Dijon mustard). Canada has been able to segregate mustards types from
breeder plots to farm level production to final customer for years. But I guess this is not the point of
the discussion.

[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassica"]Brassica types[/URL]

<a href="http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/66.mustard.html">gmo-compass</a>

[parsley]

Kevin Hursh, on behalf of mustard growers, is quoted as saying, on the front page of the Western Producer:

"There has never been, to our knowledge, a GMO mustard developed, certainly not in Canada. And we find it hard to believe anything like that has ever been developed anywhere else."


I quickly googled and found two websites that indicate Canada has hosted field trials growing GM mustard, and there will be more.

It's surprising the Saskatchewan Mustard Growers' Commission dosn't even know GM trials were done.

Will we, as farmers, be better decisions makers if we are informed? Are we interested?

The first web site was this:

http://www.gm-inspectorate.gov.uk/documents/ANON-GM_crops_routine_surveillence_Oct-Dec_05_final.pdf

It states:

"During the reporting period there have been 15 notifications for GM mustard (Brassica juncea), mainly in Canada,"

It is a report called "Current Awareness of Experimental and Commercial Releases of GM Crops Worldwide", and there were 15 notifications about mustard in 2005, according to the Quarterly Summary composed by GM InspectorateCentral Science Laboratory, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,Sand Hutton, York YO41 1LZ

________________2 in Australia, modified for Herbicide tolerance,

_______________ 12 modified in Canada for tewo traits: Herbicide tolerance, and fertility restoration,

____________ and 1 in the USA for Herbicide tolerance.


12



How can Canadian mustard growers plan ahead for segregation if they don't even know about GM mustard trials?

So I googled again and got this webpage:

mhtml:%7BBF101B35-D3DC-42C0-B614-32475682DE2D%7Dmid://00000102/!x-usc:http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/database/plants/66.mustard.html

This is what it says:

Field Trials with GM Mustard.
EU Applications 3 (Sinapis alba)

Countries Belgien Period 2000-2001 Traits Tolerance to herbicides in combination with male sterility

Worldwide USA 3 (Brassica juncea) Period 2003-2005

other countries Canada (Brassica juncea, Brassica carinata), India

Do Canadian farmers want to know if trial mustards were done? And who's information and WHAT information do we believe?

One point:

If the Mustard Growers' Commission assures its' buyers that NO GM mustard has ever been developed, when it obviously has, folks, what about contamination and the liability? Is financial jeopardy being downloaded on farmers?Isn't this a question that farmers should ask?

And where were the trials? And was seed kept? And who did the trials? You can find out that information, but I would suggest you do your own homework.. Sean Pratt's Western producer obviously didn't google either, and neither did Mr. Dick, when he was checking for his EU buyers.Pars

[charliep]

I have to fess up to a mistake. Brown mustard is Brassica Juncea. Too many names for an old economist.

[ColevilleH2S]

The [URL="http://www.cfia-acia.agr.ca/english/plaveg/bio/dd/dd0873e.shtml#a1"]"GMO" Mustard[/URL] that is being researched in Canada is Clearfield Mustard, which is developed using chemically induced seed mutagenesis. A process that the EU and other hyper sensitive markets do not consider GM in the regular sense of the term. That is why the EU accepts all Clearfield Lentils,Wheat, Sunflowers,etc as non-GMO.

I have to state once again, thanks Pars for driving the "fear and innuendo" wedge between Western Canadian farmers and their customers. Your a great help (not). I hope you are enjoying your 15 minutes.

[parsley]

"There has never been, to our knowledge, a GMO mustard developed, certainly not in Canada. And we find it hard to believe anything like that has ever been developed anywhere else."

That is the mustard growers' position. is it correct or not?

I'm confused. Is there Gm mustard in Canada or not?

If the EU accepts GM mustard readily, as you say they will, then farmers have nothing to fear then, do they?

Mustard was NOT taken off the shelves in EU....Is that what you are saying?

If it was.... Who pays for a player who does not want to be accountable in a value chain? Or does it matter?

I am speaking of important values. Credibility. Accountability.Trust. In the entire value chain. Are you able to grasp what I broach?

From a sales point of view, it is important to find out if the mustard you describe IS or IS NOT genetically modified because it makes a difference to all buyers. Both conventional and organic.

Segregation for example. Are seed growers/cleaners/ contamination centers, or not?

EU Buyer trust is an invaluable asset.

And knowing each farmer participating in the value chain, in a transportation chain, etc, will commit to being forthright, and trustworthy is also invaluable.

I'm asking questions. I did not arrange the sales.

Pars

[ColevilleH2S]

Pars if you are so confused about this issue maybe you should stop blogging about it. Your innuendo laced questions are not adding to anyone's knowledge base, and you are not helping to resolve the matter.