OTTAWA, Ontario — So far, at least 15 nations have signed a statement of intent to develop a global regime allowing a low-level presence (LLP) of genetically modified (GMO or GM) materials in crop exports and imports.

The statement of intent, spearheaded by the Canadian government, is part of an effort by Canadian grain commodity groups to get a worldwide system that will allow for LLP based on some yet to be agreed upon standard, said Lucy Sharratt, executive director of Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), an anti-GMO activist group.

At the same time, Canada’s federal agriculture department – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) – is on the cusp of changing its law to allow for imports of grain with LLP, a change from its current policy of zero tolerance.

"This is based on an imaginary future where more and more GM are approved in other countries, but which aren’t approved in Canada," Sharratt said. "There is no threat now from GM foods abroad. The issue is, there’s a long-term trade goal on the part of Canada. It’s really about trying to provide a global model of getting rid of zero tolerance of GM contamination.

"Canada is part of a group of countries that believes low-level presence has to happen. LLP is a radical departure in public health policy in Canada. This policy proposes that Canadians accept a small percent of GM foods on Canadians’ plates even if they haven’t been approved as safe by the Canadian government."

According to a backgrounder from the AAFC, under current policy if the Canadian government detects LLP in an imported product, it’s required to take action to remedy the situation. This can include enforcement actions, which may include product recalls, legal action and requiring regulated parties to take corrective actions.

"The enforcement actions taken when LLP is detected can lead to disruptions to trade and increased costs to industry and governments, for both imports and exports," the backgrounder states.

"Such disruptions and costs occur even when LLP occurrences are unlikely to pose a risk to human or animal health or to the environment."

The Canadian government began a review of this issue in 2009, which included consultation with the general public as well as stakeholder groups. According to Sharratt, a new regulatory framework will likely be in place by this fall that will allow for some percentage of LLP in imported products. The exact percentage has not yet been established.

Meanwhile, Canadian government officials have been trying to get the United States fully on board the LLP wagon train.

According to a March 12 article in The Western Producer, a Canadian newspaper, Canada has been leading efforts to persuade other grain-exporting nations to adopt LLP policies.

According to the article, the hope is the concept will eventually spread to grain importers, enabling countries to accept shipments containing small amounts of unapproved GMO crops.

That would eliminate many costly trade disruptions.

According to the report, the impetus for the policy was the 2009 discovery of CDC Triffid, an unapproved line of GMO flax, in shipments to the European Union (EU). The discovery devastated trade with the EU, Canada’s top flax customer.

Regarding LLP, the American Soybean Assoc.’s (ASA) Ray Gaesser is quoted in the article as saying it would "really benefit us all to circumvent some of the efforts to restrict trade."

The ASA knows about these kinds of problems, since many of its growers also plant corn, some of which hasn’t yet been approved for import into China, including the corn traits Duracade and MIR 162.

According to an ASA blog post from Sept. 17, 2014, Gaesser said China is the United States’ largest soy customer. He said soybean growers who also grow corn not approved in China need to follow stewardship agreements carefully, ensuring thorough equipment clean-out as well as only marketing their grain in approved domestic channels.

"The longer-term answer, of course, is a more efficient and transparent system of foreign approvals and a global policy to allow for the low-level presence of biotech traits that are fully approved in a producing market but not yet approved in an export market," said Wade Cowan, ASA’s first vice president, in the same blog post.