File photo of a Chinese cornfield. (Baona/iStock/Getty Images)

China proposes new rules to ease GMO approvals

Leadership seeks 'turnaround' in seed sector

Beijing | Reuters — China is planning changes to its seed regulations that will make it easier to approve genetically modified crops, a move seen as a critical step toward commercializing GM corn. The ministry of agriculture and rural affairs published a draft document late on Friday proposing a series of amendments to several different […] Read more

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Exemptions, extensions to be granted for rail crossing upgrades

New amendments would exclude low-risk field-to-field crossings

Some farmer-owned field-to-field grade crossings over Canadian rail lines are now expected to be exempted altogether from looming federal requirements for safety upgrades. Proposed amendments to the Grade Crossings Regulations, announced June 18 by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, this week cleared their 30-day public comment period. The amendments are expected to tweak rules which were […] Read more


Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, with Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna (l) and Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault (r), speaks at the Dominion Arboretum in Ottawa on Dec. 11, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

No credit expected for farmers’ past work in new carbon market

Work on protocols for specific projects to begin this spring, department says

Draft regulations for Canada’s new carbon market show Canadian farmers won’t receive credit for removing any greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the atmosphere prior to 2017. Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on Friday announced the offset market, to be known as the Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System. A 60-day public consultation period on draft regulations […] Read more



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Cannabis edibles clear for legal launch before year-end

Food products containing cannabis are expected to be on the retail market by mid-December at the earliest under new federal regulations announced Friday. Health Canada on Friday announced amendments to the Cannabis Regulations will be published June 26 to come into force Oct. 17, laying out rules for legal production and sale of edible cannabis, […] Read more

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New federal standard to expand beer ingredient options

More variety in allowable ingredients and more requirements for declarations are now part of the federal rules on what can be called beer in Canada. The federal government on May 1 announced “modernized” beer standards under Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) — the rules laying out the requirements to be met by a product […] Read more



Aviation firms report Brazil’s use of crop dusters to be rising at a rate of three per cent per year. (Embraer video screengrab via YouTube)

Brazil cracking down on unmonitored agriculture planes

Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazilian federal prosecutors have demanded civil aviation authorities change regulations to increase oversight of agriculture airplanes such as crop dusters, which they claim can be used to smuggle drugs and agro-chemicals. Prosecutors are calling for the mandatory introduction of a transponder equipment to monitor such planes, and have suggested new […] Read more


(Photo by Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service)

Industry still looking for new NH3 tank rule break

Fertilizer Canada and the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR) say there will be enough anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks available to supply the fertilizer to farmers during this growing season. New Transport Canada regulations came into force Jan. 12, which affect the frequency of hydrostatic testing and visual inspection of ammonia nurse and applicator tanks and […] Read more