The effort involves 13 organizations from around the world, including the Seed Association of the Americas, of which Canada is a member.

Why it matters: Payment for seeds helps fund the development of newer and more advanced varieties, which aids farmers in growing more productive crops.

The agreement means the organizations will work together by sharing information and communications campaigns about illegal seed use.

“We want to ensure a farmer has the best improved varieties in their hands and they have trust in what they are buying,” says Michael Keller, executive director of the International Seed Federation.

While there is some concern about farmers saving privately developed seed in Canada, the challenges in Canada pale compared to other parts of the world. Canada is unique in that much of the wheat seed grown in Western Canada is from public breeding programs and farmers save seed without the need to pay a royalty.

However, much of the canola, corn and soybean seed planted in Canada require payment for use.

There’s more concern with non-farmers collecting and reselling seed for profit.

Antonio Villaroel, managing director of Spain’s Gestión de Licencias Vegetales (GESLIVE), said that of 750 cases his group has taken to court over the past 30 years, only about 12 were farmers. He says that when GESLIVE started investigating illegal seed 30 years ago that 80 per cent of the wheat seed in his region was illegally saved. Now the numbers have reversed to where 20 per cent is illegal and 80 per cent of the seed is traded legally.

Of greater concern than farmers are other industry sellers of illegal seed including some co-operatives, grain traders and seed dealers.

In Brazil, Diego Risso, executive director of the Seed Association of the Americas, says about 40 per cent of soybeans planted there could be illegally grown.

The announcement was made at the International Seed Federation’s World Seed Congress where deal-making on seed is common, with a large room with 300 tables kept busy over three days.

Marco van Leeuwen, outgoing president of the ISF, says that the organization also has work to do to clean up what happens around the congress, and companies and individuals who are found to support the sales of illegal seed won’t be allowed at the congress.

“Events like the ISF World Seed Congress must not become a platform for infringers to trade in illegal seeds,” says Keller. “In fact, ISF has put in place a procedure to exclude entities and individuals who are proven to commit illegal seed practices from future congresses.”

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Why it matters: Seed development and movement, like other agricultural products, is affected by geopolitical tensions.

However, increased volatility could bring opportunities for some farmers as companies look for seed multiplication sites in stable and trade-friendly countries.

The move from free trade to tit-for-tat application of sanctions and increased use of non-tariff trade barriers has made business more challenging for seed companies, which have global supply chains.

“We have in our company quite some troubles with exporting seeds from country one to country two just because country two doesn’t like country one,” says Marco van Leeuwen, president of the International Seed Federation and managing director of the Rijk Zwaan vegetable seed company, speaking at the recent World Seed Congress in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Global seed trade has increased as more companies produce seeds and distribute them around the world.

There’s about eight times more seed movement between countries than just 20 years ago, says Michael Keller, executive director of the International Seed Federation. Some governments worry about seed-borne diseases so it has taken effort to convince them that there’s little risk in allowing seeds to move into their country, he said.

However, van Leeuwen says his company is buffeted by increasing disputes between countries that decide not to trade with each other or to impose sanctions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries identified domestic food production as a strategic priority. That includes seeds, so some closed their borders to seed imports in an attempt to grow domestic supplies.

“We breed varieties in country one, we test varieties in all the countries with the appropriate climatic conditions, and then we have to produce seeds, which we do again in other countries,” said van Leeuwen.

Those seeds are brought back to one country for packaging and distribution.

Seed production is also more challenging because of a changing climate and trade risks.

“There’s a fear of scarcity when it comes to seed multiplication,” said van Leeuwen.

Professional seed growers are aging and not passing their role to new generations. Others decide the risks of seed production are not worth the threat to a farm’s business.

Trade is more politicized

As well, global trade rules are not working. The World Trade Organization’s dispute resolution system is paralyzed because the United States refuses to name representatives to the dispute panel.

Even so, WTO director Edwini Kessie said at the World Seed Congress that global trade has increased by 6.3 per cent since 2019. A study also showed that trade is more aligned with political objectives.

“The data did not disclose a wholesale transition to regionalization or near-shoring,” he said during a panel on navigating trade changes in the world.

There will be impacts on businesses and the poorest people as companies manage political tensions in the world as part of their business strategy. Add the need to meet new sustainability targets and it’s a recipe for less efficiency, says Marion Jansen, director of the trade and agriculture directorate for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a forum where governments from 37 democracies promote economic growth.

“Unfortunately, the price of this efficiency loss may end up being paid by the poorest of the world, because you as a seed community, you deal with food and food is what the poorest need most,” she said.

Van Leeuwen says the seed sector faces barriers that are not scientifically based.

“We look at a map and we see a lot of red flags. This is preventing us from reaching out to the farmers who have the right to get the quality seed of their choice. For the seed industry and for the farmers of the world, that is a big concern,” he said.

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Why it matters: Gene editing allows plant breeders to make changes to plants more quickly and more precisely than through conventional plant breeding methods.

A map at the recent World Seed Congress in Rotterdam, Netherlands, showed most major crop-producing regions now have rules for gene editing. That includes Canada, which recently announced rules that allow the practice without the regulatory burden faced by genetically modified crops characterized by inserting genes from other species.

Gene editing involves switching on or switching off genes that are already found in the plant.

Krista Thomas, vice-president of trade policy and seed innovation with the Canadian Grains Council, said it is a good result for agriculture.

“I think Canada’s regulatory approach for gene editing is the best in the world because it’s pragmatic and it’s science-based and it maintains a product-based approach,” she said at the World Seed Congress, where she was a panellist in a session on the state of gene editing regulations around the world.

Most gene-edited crops will be treated like conventional crops, except if the change increases toxicity.

There haven’t been many announcements about new gene-edited crops, but public and private companies are working on the technique. Regulatory pathways in major growing areas around the world are expected to soon move many crops to market.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada recently announced that researcher John Laurie is growing wheat at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre with genes edited to resist drought.

There are signs that a lot of innovations will come from new companies, such as Pairwise in the United States. Pairwise is a six-year-old North Carolina company that employs 120 people. Many in its leadership are former employees of Monsanto. Pairwise was the first to have a gene-edited produce crop go to market in the United States, with its mustard greens in 2023. The edited crop is less harsh in taste.

“We took something that is highly nutritious and made it more attractive to eat,” says Dan Jenkins, vice-president of regulatory and government affairs for Pairwise. “The idea is, if we can improve fruits and vegetables, then people will eat more of them.”

Pairwise has worked on 16 crops so far. It is also working on higher-yielding corn, achieving about a 10 per cent increase after only two years of development, says Jenkins.

More established companies are also looking at gene editing, including KWS Group, a 160-year-old seed company based in Germany.

“We see potential in the new genomic techniques in all of our crops,” says Claudia Hallebach, general counsel and head of global IP with KWS Group. She said the company is working to identify genes and sequences where editing can be applied.

“We see a lot of potential to support sustainable agriculture, but mainly in corn, sugar beets, cereals, sunflower and then traits like fungal resistance or pest resistance, virus resistance.”

In Canada, Thomas says crops that didn’t benefit from the earlier phase of genetic modification, like flax and pulses, could be improved by gene editing.

Not all companies are moving quickly on gene editing, but genomic analysis is used by most. At the Rijk Zwaan seed research facility south of Rotterdam, the company is not yet commercializing any gene-edited varieties of vegetables. It is especially known for lettuce and greens.

“It’s interesting that you can use (genomics) also to find certain traits and to know, where is the trait? How does it work? And then with classic breeding come towards the varieties that we’re currently selling. So that’s our strategy,” says Bauke van Leteren, business development specialist for convenience and leafies at Rijk Zwaan.

Global approach

All major crop producing regions in the world have provisions for gene-edited crops to be treated like conventionally bred versions.

In Africa, there’s a concerted effort to develop laboratory and human capacity to work on gene editing. Eight countries in the African Union have regulations that allow it.

Olalekan Akimbo, technical lead, genome editing program with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA), says the program is focused on improving crops important to Africa. The introduction of transgenic crops was bumpy because of suspicions about the safety of genetically modified crops, pushback from dictators and the fact that the main genetically modified crops, corn and soybeans, were most important to farmers elsewhere in the world.

The goal with gene editing is for Africans to have some control over the process and benefit from crop improvements.

AUDA has partnered with the University of California, Davis, a leader in the use of CRISPR technology, to build capacity in Africa. Akimbo says three crops with gene edits are close to release in Africa: corn, teff and sorghum.

The European Union has two categories for gene-edited crop regulation. The first is for minor changes that don’t significantly alter the crop. The second is for significant genetic or expression changes or a food safety risk.

Seed companies and breeders in the European Union expressed concern at the World Seed Congress about the lack of definition around the two categories.

Klaus Berendt, director for food safety, sustainability and innovation at the European Commission, said via video to the World Seed Congress that about 90 per cent of gene-edited crops are expected to be in the lower regulation category.

However, he said that “ultimately, we actually think that the particularly ones that are of interest for coping with sustainability challenges such as climate change, drought resistance, being able to sustain water with higher salinity content, we would actually expect them to be more in category two.”

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