. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/CAN/246 
4 July 2008 
 (08-3228) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   CANADA  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   Canadian Food Inspection Agency 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   Canadian Enquiry 
Point, 200-270 Albert Street, Ottawa, Onta rio, Canada, K1P 6N7 Tel.:  +1 613 238 3222, 
Fax.: +1 613 569 7808, E-mail: enquirypoint@scc.ca  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [ X ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:         
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):   Seeds of various crop 
sectors (Parts of HS codes Chapters 7, 9, 10 and 12) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Proposed Amendment 
to the Seeds Regulations  (Part III and Schedule III) (22 pages, available in English and 
French) 
6. Description of content:    
A more flexible variety registration system is proposed to respond to the specific needs of 
different crop sectors in Canada and, where appropriate, to reduce regulatory burden while 
maintaining appropriate govern ment oversight. This would be  accomplished by dividing the 
list of all crops that require variety registra tion, found in Schedule III of the Regulations, 
into three parts with three levels of variety registration requirements. For all parts, basic 
variety registration information would contin ue to be required, including information 
demonstrating conformity with minimum h ealth and safety standards, information 
confirming the identity of new varieties, info rmation supporting the verification of claims, 
and information required for seed certification purposes. However, the three parts would 
each have different pre-registration testing (fi eld trials and laboratory testing) and merit 
assessment requirements. 
Part I (status quo): The registration of new vari eties of crop kinds in Part I would require 
pre-registration testing and merit assessment to  determine whether the variety performs as 
well as or better than reference varieties. This  part is intended for cr op kinds for which there 
is a continuing need for stringent government oversight to ensure that varieties meet 
minimum performance standards.  G/TBT/N/CAN/246 
Page 2  
 
  Part II: The registration of new varieties of crop kinds in Part II would require pre-
registration testing, but not merit assessment. This part is intended for crop kinds for which 
official oversight to confirm the validity of pr e-registration testing data is required, but for 
which merit assessment is burdensome relative to  the benefit derived or does not effectively 
predict the usefulness of varieties in the ma rketplace. This part would allow sufficient 
flexibility to accommodate varieties that addr ess the increasingly diverse needs of producers 
and end users. 
Part III: New varieties of crop kinds in Part  III would be subject to only basic variety 
registration requirements. This would allow an  appropriate level of  government oversight 
for crop kinds where pre-registration testing and merit assessment are deemed to be excessively burdensome or ineffective.  
The goal of these proposed amendments is to cr eate the framework for a flexible system. To 
meet the drafting requirements, it is necessary to include at least one crop kind in each new 
part. Consequently, it is proposed that four cr op kinds for which there is strong rationale and 
consensus for making changes to the current re gistration requirements would be placed in 
the newly created parts. It is proposed that buc kwheat and safflower be listed in Part II and 
sunflower and potatoes be listed in Part III. A ll other crop kinds would either be listed in 
Part I or remain exempt from variety registrati on as per the status quo. It is expected that 
there would be future changes in the placement of crop kinds, effected through regulatory amendments, as the rationale and consensus fo r change are established through crop specific 
consultation. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
Facilitate the modernization of the seed regulatory framework 
8. Relevant documents:   Canada Gazette, Part I, 28 J une 2008, Pages 1977-1998 (available in 
English and French) 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:    not stated 
28 June 2008 
10. Final date for comments:   11 October 2008 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   
The electronic version of these do cuments can be downloaded at: 
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2008/200806 28/pdf/g1-14226.pdf (Canada Gazette)  
or  http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2008/20080628/html/regle1-e.html (English)
 
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2008/20080628/html/regle1-f.html (French)