The Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) was pleased with today's announcement from the Supreme Court of Canada, confirming that plant cell technologies are patentable.

CCGA was an independent intervener in the Supreme Court appeal between Percy Schmeiser and Monsanto because of concerns that the outcome of the case could have jeopardized canola growers' access to biotechnology.

Ross Ravelli, a canola grower and president of the CCGA said "I am pleased that our patent laws have been clarified. We can now move forward as an industry with confidence that Canada will continue to attract investment in research and development of plant cell technologies, for the benefit of all farmers". Ravelli added that "Canola growers in Canada need to have access to the latest advances in modern biotechnology to ensure we can continue to respond to consumer demands for healthy oils, and remain competitive with other exporting countries".

CCGA policy analyst Rick White pointed out that the Supreme Court decision should bring an end to the question of where Canada stands on patents. "It was unfortunate that we had to go through this period of risk and uncertainty, not knowing where Canada was on the issue of patenting plant materials. Technology developers would have been very cautious about making long-term investments over the past couple of years". White went on to say that "Patents serve an extremely important function for two reasons; they encourage investment in research and development, and they require full disclosure of the invention to the public. Disclosing the science and technology enables competing products to be developed, and provides a building block upon which further advances in technology can be made."

The Canadian Canola Growers Association represents all of the provincial canola grower organizations in Canada on national and international issues that affect canola growers.