With the new agreement in place, cattle shipped directly for sale to the other province will only incur one inspection fee in the province of origin. Manitoba does not inspect livestock brands. We plan to complete guidelines on the safety of transgenic food by the end of March, he said. We will accept requests to export transgenic grains to Japan when the guidelines are ready, he said. Guidelines on transgenic grains for compound feed are scheduled to be ready by the end of April, an Agriculture Ministry official said.
Japan is the world s largest grain importer.
Transgenic grains will enable Japan to secure stable supplies as it reduces swings in grain crop failures from droughts and insects, said Timothy A. Tierney, Japan director of the U.S. Feed Grains Council. Although still minimal, the United States and Canada are expanding production of transgenic grains. Canadian farmers want to increase production of transgenic canola, but are waiting for Japan s approval before planting this year, a Canadian embassy official said. Last year, Canada s transgenic canola acreage, planted only on a test basis, was 4,000 acres out of a total 13 million acres. This year it is expected to surge to 10 per cent of total canola acreage.