Canola Stewardship Questions and Answers

Canola has many end uses including cooking oil, processed foods, biofuels, animal feed and industrial uses. More information about the canola industry can be found on the Canola Council of Canada's website here or on the US Canola Council's website here.

In the United States canola seeded acres averaged 1.93 million acres over the last 5 years (2016-2020) according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. In Canada canola seeded acres averaged 21.71 million acres over the last 5 years (2016-2020) according to the Canola Council of Canada.

Through routine quality assurance testing in late 2020 we discovered the presence of the BASF-Cargill Omega-3 event (LBFLFK) in certain lots of our 2020 hybrid seed produced in Montana.  We were able to isolate and contain all of this seed on farm so that it did not enter commercial channels. During the course of the investigation, BASF also included the NuSeed Omega-3 event NS-B50027-4, as Nuseed conducted field activities with canola containing this event in 2018, 2019 and 2020 in Washington State and Montana.  

BASF identified the initial problem through routine quality assurance testing that BASF performs for all hybrid seed production. As BASF was aware of the first limited market development activities with the BASF/Cargill Omega 3 (LBFLFK) event conducted by Cargill in Montana, BASF included the test for this event in its routine analysis in 2020. BASF did not have access to testing for the Nuseed Omega 3 event until February 2021.

Yes, all seed ultimately found to contain either the BASF/Cargill (LBFLFK) or the Nuseed Omega 3 (NS-B50027-4) events produced in 2020 has been contained on farm or recalled from the commercial channel before the 2021 planting season. BASF is working with customers to replace this recalled seed in time for the 2021 planting season.

Yes, we have provided frequent updates to the appropriate government authorities in the United States and Canada throughout our investigation.

Yes, BASF has been in contact with regulatory authorities and industry stakeholders from the canola industry in the United States and Canada.  We have been transparent with our findings and are providing updates to these authorities and stakeholders on a frequent basis.

BASF is committed to the responsible stewardship of its products. BASF’s hybrid seed producers have been compensated in accordance with the applicable production contracts as if the presence of Omega3 events had not occurred.  For customers and farmers that have been affected by the recall of seed in 2021, BASF is working to replace the recalled seed with seed of the same or a comparable variety that has passed all of BASF’s quality control metrics.  

Yes. BASF is committed to the responsible stewardship of its products and is a founding member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS) an industry association promoting the responsible management of plant biotechnology. As a member of ETS, BASF meets or exceeds the requirements contained in the ETS Guides promoting responsible stewardship practices.   

We will be working with industry this year to address and better understand the reasons behind these new findings. We have several hypotheses that need to be considered including pollen movement, volunteer canola plants from the previous seasons, transportation releases, and potential equipment transfer.

The BASF-Cargill LBFLFK canola event has been approved for cultivation activities in the USA by USDA APHIS (August 7, 2019), and approved for food and feed use and incidental planting in Canada (December 9, 2019). 

You can contact BASF through your established BASF representative, or you can visit our Contact Form and someone will respond to you within 1 business day.

BASF is still investigating the cause of the presence of Nuseed's NS-B50027-4 event in a limited number of lots of our hybrid seed production.  However, we have established that Nuseed's NS-B50027-4 event is not present in the parent seed used to plant the production field and believe that this presence most likely occurred due to transfer from the environment.

BASF is taking multiple approaches to minimize the impact of this incident. BASF was able to successfully contain all seed produced in 2020 in Montana and out of an abundance of caution recalled selected 2020 seed lots produced in Washington State as well as selected 2019 and 2018 carryover seed lots produced in both states. We are also working with regulators and canola industry groups in the US and Canada, including Excellence Through Stewardship (ETS), to manage the incident, share learnings and adjust coexistence and stewardship practices in the future as necessary.  BASF’s investigation is ongoing.

No testing was available for the Nuseed NS-B50027-4 event until mid-February 2021 when the first low throughput validated method was made available by Nuseed through an authorized third-party laboratory.

BASF received positive results that indicate the level of presence is between 0.01 and 0.59% for the lots that have confirmed presence of Nuseed's NS-B50027-4 event.

BASF is having close to 1.1 million canola seeds tested from specific lots and production years for the presence of Nuseed's NS-B50027-4 event.

We have found the presence of Nuseed's NS-B50027-4 event in our hybrid canola seed produced in the States of Montana and in certain fields in Washington State. BASF was able to successfully contain all seed produced in 2020 in Montana and out of an abundance of caution recalled selected 2020 seed lots produced in Washington State as well as selected 2019 and 2018 carryover seed lots produced in both states. BASF’s investigation and testing is ongoing.

The third-party laboratory authorized by Nuseed is in the process of testing the retained samples from the 2018 and 2019 seed production years at BASF’s request. Nuseed did not make testing for their event available until mid-February 2021.

Testing questions for Nuseed's NS-B50027-4 event should be directed to Nuseed.

BASF cannot confirm if importing countries are testing or able to test for Nuseed's NS-B50027-4 event.  These questions should be referred to Nuseed.

Based on publicly available information, USA, Canada and Australia have approved Nuseed's NS-B50027-4 event for importation.

We have found the presence of LBFLFK or BASF/Cargill Omega 3 event in some of our hybrid canola seed produced in Montana. The seed produced in 2020 has been contained on farm and did not enter the commercial seed channel.

Yes, BASF was able to secure all 2020 hybrid seed containing the presence of LBFLFK on farm before entering the commercial channel.

BASF conducted small scale R&D field studies in the US in 2014, 2015, and 2016 to generate data necessary for regulatory submissions. Starting in 2017 and through to today Cargill has conducted small scale R&D and breeding studies in the US. In 2020, Cargill produced about 3,000 acres of canola containing the LBFLFK event in a highly controlled closed-loop supply chain with a small, select number of Montana growers for the purposes of research and market development. BASF included quality assurance testing for LBFLFK in hybrid canola seed in 2020 because of Cargill's increase in planted acres in Montana.

BASF has tested about a quarter of million seeds for the presence/absence of the BASF/Cargill Omega 3 event from hybrid seed produced in 2019 – 2020. BASF’s investigation and testing is ongoing.

Many importing countries develop methods for detection of biotechnology derived crops in their imports.  LBFLFK detection methods have been submitted to the European Union (EURL), China, Japan, and Korea.

Laboratories authorized to test for LBFLFK can be found here.

The LBFLFK event provides a scalable plant-based production system for increased omega-3 fatty acids not normally present in canola oil.

The American Heart Association says omega-3 fatty acids benefit the hearts of healthy people, as well as those at high risk of – or who already have – cardiovascular disease. BASF Plant Science and Cargill have co-developed a new, sustainable and easily scalable dietary source of omega-3 fatty acids — genetically modified canola shown to consistently produce high levels of EPA+DHA omega-3 fatty acids in canola oil. It will allow food and feed companies to offer EPA and DHA omega-3s in a wide variety of products and make healthy food options more accessible to all consumers

BASF has extensive data on the composition, safety, and characteristics of canola containing the LBFLFK event.  With the exception of the intended changes in fatty acid composition, LBFLFK event is not materially different in composition, safety, or any other relevant parameter from other canola varieties currently grown, marketed, and consumed in the United States. The oil  produced in seed containing event LBFLFK is similar to oil of similar composition from other sources that are also used as food and feed ingredients.

BASF created and owns the LBFLFK event.  BASF licenses the LBFLFK event exclusively to Cargill for purposes of commercialization, and BASF does not breed with the LBFLFK event. 

BASF conducted small scale R&D field studies in the US in 2014, 2015, and 2016 to generate data necessary for regulatory submissions. Starting in 2017 and through to today Cargill has conducted small scale R&D and breeding studies in the US. In 2020, Cargill produced about 3,000 acres of canola containing the LBFLFK event in a highly controlled closed-loop supply chain with a small, select number of Montana growers for the purposes of research and market development. The primary production region extended from Great Falls towards Conrad.

Since 2011 BASF and Cargill have collaborated to provide a renewable, plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids that will help food and feed companies develop products with improved nutrition for consumers. This collaboration brings together expertise from both companies. BASF brings best-in-class capabilities in gene discovery, molecular biology, and metabolic profiling. Cargill provides long-standing structure, systems and processes for both enclosed facilities and field-based research. Cargill’s specialty canola business has built closed loop production and processing know-how that will help bring LBFLFK to market.

The BASF-Cargill LBFLFK canola event has been approved for cultivation activities in the USA by USDA APHIS (August 7, 2019), and approved for food and feed use and incidental planting in Canada (December 9, 2019). 

Currently Canada has approved LBFLFK event for importation.  Dossiers are currently being reviewed for import approval of LBFLFK event in China, EU, Japan, South Korea and Mexico

Global regulatory review is asynchronous due to country specific requirements. We submitted for approvals in the US and Canada while still completing studies required in other countries and did so with the intention of completing the global regulatory process as soon as possible. For example, China and Mexico do not typically accept or review applications until an event is approved in the country of origin.