THE WESTERN Australian Government has extended its moratorium on GM food crops for another four years. It joins South Australia as major canola producing States not growing the commercial GM canola varieties, with Victoria and NSW both growing GM this year. The decision was predictably applauded and derided in equal measure.

Genetically modified food labelling is inadequate and confusing for consumers, according to the Conservation Council of WA, which has called for better standards. The council’s sustainable agriculture spokeswoman, Maggie Lilith, said many European Union countries had successfully implemented strict labelling on GM ingredients and there was no reason why it could not be done in Australia . ”We’ve got no labelling at all so that gives no one any choice,” she said. ”We don’t know whether (ingredients are) derived from GM canola or GM soy so people can’t avoid it. It’s inadequate testing at this stage and there’s not enough studies that have been done and no long-term generational studies.”

THE NSW Farmers’ Association has declared it will call on State and Federal governments to protect non-genetically modified (GM) canola growers from the financial risks of GM production on a commercial scale. The association’s delegates carried a motion at their annual conference in Sydney yesterday that will see the farming lobby pressure governments to provide financial safeguards for farmers who choose not to use GM canola seeds.
The conference’s second day was dominated by debate over the costs, marketability and safety of GM crops, and the motion - which effectively supports the interests of non-GM canola growers - was won by a very narrow margin.

Hexima Ltd., an Australian agricultural biotechnology company, rose by the most since first trading last year in Sydney after signing a corn seed development agreement with DuPont Co., the third-largest U.S. chemical maker. The Melbourne-based company will work with DuPont’s Pioneer unit to establish a commercial genetically modified corn product resistant to fungal diseases, Chairman Dan O’Brien said today in an interview at a commodities conference in Sydney.

Internationally renowned Australian immunologist Sir Gustav Nossal recently argued that the risks posed by GM crops are no greater than those posed by conventional crops, although they are much more thoroughly assessed. He concluded that ”A hungry world needs such research”. GM crops are not a panacea to solving world hunger - poverty and starvation are issues rooted in socio-political problems, but if there is insufficient food produced then even a perfect food distribution system will not help.

Genetic modification of plants and crops has long been touted as a means of producing hypoallergenic foods, but real progress in this area is limited by overcoming the ”essential requirement for some of the major allergenic proteins for normal plant function,” wrote Mohan Singh and Prem Bhalla from the University of Melbourne. [...] ”The transgenic plants exhibited severe growth retardation along with yield reduction, however, and some transgenic lines did not bear any fruit. ”These results highlight the obstacles in removing certain plant allergenic proteins that perform essential cellular housekeeping functions,” they added.

Health scientists have accused CSIRO Plant Industry Deputy TJ Higgins of making innacurate claims, following a CSIRO campaign urging Australian chefs not to boycott genetically modified (GM) food products. As reported in last week’s Crikey, Higgins wrote on CSIRO letterhead to more than 50 chefs who had signed Greenpeace’s GM-free Chef’s Charter. But his letter campaign has ”backfired spectacularly”, according to Greenpeace spokesperson Louise Sales, who says health scientists and chefs are angered over public resources being used for pro-GM lobbying.

I am one of about 120 farmers from NSW and Victoria excited to be involved in the small-scale roll-out of Australia’s first genetically modified (GM) canola varieties. Two GM canolas were approved for commercial use by Australia’s federal gene technology regulator in 2003 following a rigorous, science-based assessment, but state government bans across the country, based on market issues, have prevented farmers from accessing these new plant varieties until now.

A major Australian organic food producer, Pureharvest, located in Drouin West Gippsland is calling on Food Standards Australia and New Zealand to match world’s best practice in GM food labelling. Pureharvest Managing Director Don Lazzaro says ”Our clients are demanding comprehensive labeling when it comes to GM food. They want to know where there food is coming from and how it has been produced.” Mr Lazzaro says that GM food awareness has grown dramatically in Australia over the last few years and that this reflects a worldwide trend.

The Federal Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, says he will discuss the benefits of drought resistant genetically modified crops with his his state counterpart today. The West Australian Government has a moratorium on the development of genetically modified crops. Mr Burke is in Western Australia and will hold talks with the State Minister for Agriculture, Kim Chance, before touring the north west. Mr Burke says he is hopeful the WA will reconsider its position on GM crops.