Turkey’s GM intolerance could halt lentil trade Posted Jun. 9th, 2016
by Sean Pratt CESME, Turkey — The two largest buyers of Canadian lentils in Turkey say there is significant risk that trade will come to a grinding halt if a looming issue is not quickly resolved.
Turkey has zero tolerance for shipments contaminated with unapproved genetically modified crops.
The importers say Turkish authorities could easily reject a red lentil shipment for containing GM canola dust, and that would be the beginning of the end of $375 million in annual trade with Canada’s second largest lentil customer.
Abdullah Ozdemir, general manager of the Arbel Group, a subsidiary of AGT Food and Ingredients and Turkey’s largest importer of Canadian lentils, said the strict policy poses significant risk to importers and exporters.
“This is now a headache in Turkey. The ministry of agriculture is making problems,” he said through an interpreter.
He wants Canadian farmers to pressure the Canadian government to lobby the Turkish government to adopt a .09 percent tolerance level for GM contamination.
Ozdemir said it is an issue that needs to be resolved at the highest level of government.
“This is very important and it has to be sorted out,” he said. “This will have a big effect on the business of lentils from Canada to Turkey.”
Omer Al-Katib, director of investor relations with AGT, the biggest supplier of Canadian lentils to Turkey, agreed that a reasonable tolerance level needs to be established.
“This is a monster that is lurking in the closet that is going to come out at some point,” he said. “Both governments need to be ready to deal with the issue before it becomes a big issue.”
Bayram Fettahoglu, chief executive officer of Goze Agricultural Products and Marketing Inc., Turkey’s second biggest importer of Canadian lentils, said nothing is getting accomplished at the ministerial level.
“This is only a matter that’s going to be resolved between the president of Turkey and the prime minister of Canada,” he said through an interpreter.
He said 420,000 tonnes of lentil trade with Turkey are at risk.
“If there is a problem with a red lentil vessel, there won’t be a second time because Turkey will stop buying,” said Fettahoglu.
He said any problem in Turkey would have a domino effect in other importing regions.
“Can you imagine if in the world press it is written that Canadian red lentils are refused by Turkey because of GMOs?” said Fettahoglu. “In Europe, your product might be questioned.”
Turkish consumers are particularly skittish about eating GM crops, which has put the government in a bind.
Fettahoglu said if the government changes its policy to establish any tolerance level, it risks a political backlash from consumers who will accuse the government of trying to poison them and succumbing to the interests of big business.
There was a major scandal in the country in 2013 when six people from three importing companies were arrested after 21,000 tonnes of U.S. grain paddy rice were seized after testing positive for containing trace amounts of GM soybeans.
Gord Bacon, chief executive officer of Pulse Canada, chaired a meeting on the subject during the 2016 Global Pulse Convention in Cesme, Turkey.
Attending the meeting were Canadian exporters, Turkish importers and representatives of the Canadian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, and the Canadian embassy in Ankara, Turkey.
“It could have a devastating impact on lentil trade,” said Bacon.
For Canada, $375 million worth of lentil exports are at risk. For Turkey, there are all the jobs involved in processing, marketing and re-exporting the product.
“Some of that business that is going to Turkey could end up going to another country,” he said.
Bacon said the trade believes a .09 percent tolerance level would be sufficient to allow trade to continue unimpeded.
Pulse Canada and the Canadian Special Crops Association will be asking the federal government to consider adding the issue to the agenda when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later this year.