http://www.thecampaign.org/News/jan02k.htm#ottawa Ottawa assailed over biotech monitoring Contaminated food shows regulations flawed: Greenpeace January 10 National Post Canada is ill-prepared for environmental and health-related fallout if banned genetically engineered food products enter the country, according to an analysis of federal government documents. StarLink, a genetically modified corn made in the United States, was detected in food products in the United States and Canada last year. It was also sold as animal feed in Canada, even though the product has not been approved for environmental release or for feed or food use here. In the United States, StarLink is only authorized to be used as animal feed because of concerns it may trigger allergic reactions in humans. Government documents, obtained by Greenpeace, show Ottawa took six months after the contamination to send a notice to seed importers about a requirement for adequate documents indicating imported corn had been tested for StarLink contamination. Environment Canada did not establish a program to monitor the potential ecosystem introduction of StarLink or any other genetically engineered crop derived through biotechnology. The government has "made a commitment to address ecosystem-related" concerns pertaining to genetically modified organisms, the documents note. The documents also state the government did not conduct a study to examine the health effects of StarLink, even though it admits to four recalls of corn-based food products imported from the United States. Health Canada argued the presence of Starlink corn protein in food products constituted a "level of health concern which has a remote probability of adverse health consequences," while acknowledging "it was not possible to prove" the protein in Starlink was "unlikely to be an allergen," the documents state. The StarLink contamination cost the government at least $900,000, a "conservative" estimate of costs for which it did not seek to recover from Aventis, which manufactured the banned product. Eric Darier, genetic engineering campaigner for Greenpeace, analyzed the documents obtained under the Auditor-General Act. He says the StarLink case illustrates how ill-prepared Canada is for this kind of contamination. The documents show government officials "don't really have control over it," he said. "There's no evidence they can't prevent it. The missing word is prevention. They're trying to manage contamination rather than prevent it." Bart Bilmer, director of the Office of Biotechnology at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, says the government is prepared to deal with genetically modified products at the border. He said the government handled the StarLink contamination "effectively." "I think we serviced the Canadian public well and we will continue to do so," Mr. Bilmer said. Dr. Mark Winston, professor of biological sciences at Simon Fraser University, said the six-month lag between the contamination alert and notification to seed importers was inadequate. "One thing we should learn from this, whether a genetically modified product is a health risk or not, [is] the level of public concern is high enough [that] we need to expect rapid regulatory oversight," he said. Dr. Winston said lack of resources and inadequate co-ordination with international regulatory agencies remain a problem. "We just don't have the resources to do the tests for the volume of products that are coming our way, and will continue to come our way." Dr. Brian Ellis, biotechnology professor at the University of British Columbia, said the response of the various agencies to the StarLink contamination reflected a reasonable perception within government. "I don't think there was a strong sense of urgency. There was no evidence that this posed an immediate health risk." However, Dr. Ellis said the government learned an important lesson. "It's a huge job just to get everybody on the same page. I think the government has had the heads-up on the complexity in dealing with such a situation. Are they prepared for next time? It's just like terrorist attacks. You don't know where it will come from next." Dr. Ellis co-chaired the Expert Panel Report on Food Biotechnology, set up by the Royal Society of Canada, the nation's elite science academy, at the request of the federal government. The February report included harsh criticisms of the way the government approves genetically modified foods for public consumption.