GM in Australia

[eve]

A leading scientist says Australian agriculture needs to embrace biotechnology or die. The comments come in the wake of a possible second GM canola contamination scare in New South Wales.

The CSIRO had been investigating its own testing procedures and sampling methods, with the deliberately contaminated grain sold as domestic stock feed by Graincorp. Dr Jim Peacock, president of the Australian Academy of Science, says our markets will take GM canola.

[eve]

Today's abc-on line news states that a report commissioned by the Tasmanian Government recommends that the state lead the way nationally in producing and selling GM foods. For the past five years the Government has had a moratorium on the release of GM materials after widespread community concerns about the safety of the technology.

But a report conducted by the Australian Biotechnology Industry organisation has found Tasmanian stakeholders such as producers and scientists are in favour of dropping the bans in order to produce GM foods. The organisation's former chief executive, Tony Coulepis, says the stakeholders are in favour of pursuing GMOs, provided the state's clean green image is not tarnished.

The audit report has been passed on to the Minister for Economic Development.

[eve]

abc-radio on line report today: "Organic and environmental farmers' groups are calling on the South Australian Government to create a law that would free grain growers from any liability if they unintentionally use GM contaminated seed. The Network of Concerned Farmers says two cases of GM contaminated grain shipments interstate have been traced back to commercial seed lines."

Felicity Martin is a member of the network and she is calling on state Agriculture Minister Rory McEwen to ensure farmers are not held liable if there is a contamination incident in the state. "What we need is proper monitoring systems, clear legislative systems established, until it's proven to be absolutely safe, that the responsibility remains with those who are growing the product," she said.

[eve]

The ABC on-line reports that the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) says Australia stands to lose $3.5 billion over the next decade if bans on GM crops remain in place. The authority says as more countries adopt GM crops, there is potential for conventional grain varieties to lose both profitability, and market share.

But the finding has been slammed by anti-GM lobbyists. Julie Newman from the Network of Concerned Farmers says the report has been driven by the Federal Govt, which wants corporate investment into plant breeding.

Meanwhile the peak body for biotechnology companies says an extended moratorium on commerical GM food crops in New South Wales will stifle research. The Govt is planning to push out the moratorium until 2008, although it will allow some trials.
AVCARE's executive director Claude Gauchat says there is no incentive for further investment. "It basically is telling industry look, sorry, Australia is closed for any business relating to GM food crops. It's really important that if we continue to research and develop GM crops in Australia that do get approved by the OGTR [Office of the Gene Technology Regulator] there is a pathway to markets."

[eve]

ABC on-line today report that farmers in the south of Western Australia want to grow GM canola. At a meeting in Esperance on Friday, the WA Farmers group moved a motion to have a local commercial-size trial of GM canola. But first they will need approval from their state branch and they will also need to tackle State Government and Esperance Shire moratoriums on growing GM crops.

WA Farmers president Trevor De Landgrafft says farmers certainly need technology to take them into the future.

Is anything happening in WA to counter this move?

[eve]

Australia's agricultural ministers will be asked to agree on a national maximum residue level for GM canola in conventional crops. Trace amounts of the genes have been found in some conventional varieties.

NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald says he will ask for a national standard on GM contamination at a meeting of ministers in Tasmania tomorrow. The Grains Council wants the standard tolerance level set at 0.9 per cent.

NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and SA and WA currently have moratoriums on the commercial release and production of GM canola. The council's David Ginns says GM material has been detected in crops in four of those states and farmers could face legal action for accidental contamination.

Biological Farmers of Australia is also pushing for changes to protect farmers, calling for a two-year exemption from the moratorium. Spokesman Scott Kinnear says after the two-year period, seed companies should be held liable for any contamination.
(from ABC Online - Rural)

[StmpyElephant]

I just have to say this.

Currently I am studying the Kyoto protocol for my politics class...and the same group mentioned in these article (ABARE) is also the same group that alluded to Australians that we shouldn't have renewable energy.

AND...to get a seat on ABARE you have to 'pay'...guess who is on those seats...international fossil fuel comapnies, and not one enviro group.

The conservation foundation wrote a letter, to ask if they could be on the committee...and were told they couldn't unless they could afford a seat.

It's all interelated and sneaky.

[adam antichrist]

Ministers give nod to GM traces in canola
By Melissa Marino
Regional Affairs Reporter
October 27, 2005

GRAIN with traces of genetically modified material will be allowed to be traded after an agreement by federal and state agriculture ministers, bending a moratorium on the commercial release of GM crops across five states.

The agreement, made yesterday at the Primary Industries Ministerial Council meeting in Launceston will tolerate levels of GM material of up to 0.9 per cent after a spate of contaminated canola was detected in crops this year.

full article here

apologies if an account is required to view.

[eve]

GM material found in Tas Grace canola crops (from abc on-line news today)

There has been confirmation today that Grace canola crops grown in Tasmania contain traces of GM material. Preliminary results from Department of Primary Industry (DPI) trials have revealed signs of herbicide resistance. The DPI's Alex Schaap says the variety accounts for around 880 of the total 1,400 hectares of canola sown in Tasmania. And he says the level of GM material will not be determined until final laboratory testing.

"We'll test for that in the laboratory but I think at this stage given the results on the mainland, we can reasonably expect that we will find evidence of that GM material," he said. "So we should be considering the Grace crops in Tasmania to be contaminated, much as the same way as they have discovered on the mainland."

And where does that leave the growers or the consumers?

[DianeVegan]

Up a creek without a paddle?

This is exactly what critics of GMs have been saying would happen for years. And now it has happened again. And no one is held accountable. This makes me angry and sad.

[eve]

I agree, Dianecrna, despite good work by critics of GMs, sometimes we can be totally powerless to change things for the better. So 'up a creek without a paddle' sums things up perfectly. And to say that hopefully things will work out for the best is blowing in the wind.

[eve]

The Tasmanian Greens have renewed their calls for the destruction of all canola crops that are GM-contaminated, and say the only solution is to destroy the affected canola and fully compensate the farmers. Of course the State Govt's head of Biosecurity, Alex Schapp, says there is little point in destroying the crops, and Tassie's Primary Industries Minister Steve Kons says given the low levels of contamination, there is no need for wholesale crop destruction.

Greens primary industries spokesman Kim Booth says: "It simply is mind-boggling that they would suggest that they should grow them out as if that somehow is going to be a protective measure," he said. "What they need to do is prevent the pollination of those seeds occurring, prevent the spread of the GE and contaminated pollen from transferring to other brassica crops or wild turnip."

[DianeVegan]

Arrrggh!!!

So we have established an acceptable level of contamination? Did I miss the scientific studies that showed just how much genetic contamination is okay? At what level does it become unacceptable? And how will we reverse that level of contamination?

I understand that I cannot keep chemical contamination out of the air and water, since our governments refuse to control chemical use and production. But genetic contamination? This was brought on by companies looking for a larger profit margin with no thought to the people who might suffer the consequences. By the time genetic contamination starts lowering crop yields (or any of the other problems it may cause) it will be so wide spread that there will be no one to hold accountable. I mean, you can't sue the government and we all know that industry and it's lobbyists run the government.

I have yet to see the upside of genetically engineered foods. Is there an advantage that I have missed?

[eve]

Frmo the abc on-line: GM pea trial abandoned after mice fall ill - The CSIRO has abandoned a trial of GM peas after they were found to cause lung damage in mice. The GM trial has been under way for the last decade, to try to breed a strain resistant to pea weevils, which cause significant damage to crops.

Project leader DR TJ Higgins from CSIRO says it was only when they tested the pea on animals that they noticed an allergic reaction. "They had mild inflammation of the lungs," he said. "It wasn't a life-threatening condition in the mice but it was enough to alert us. "If there was even the slightest chance they were transferable to humans, the right thing to do and the responsible thing to do was to stop the research there.

"What we're doing now is finding ways of destroying the remaining peas. "The field sites have all been assessed by the regulator, there are no peas growing in the field and have not grown for several years thereafter."

The gene technology regulator, Dr Sue Meek, says the study will be wrapped up under contained conditions and that nothing has entered the human food chain. Lucky for us hey?

[DianeVegan]

Okay, you have now pointed out a VEGAN reason for boycotting GMs. I had not considered this before. I will assume that all GMs are tested on animals. And once again some hapless mice saved us from our own demise.

[treehugga]

Uggggggggggggggg! What's wrong with the world we live in? We have perfectly good crops, fruit and veg and still we have to mess around with mother nature. It will all come back to bite us on the bum I guarantee you!

[eve]

28/11/05 on abc-on line:
An animal-feeding trial to test the safety of gm food crops has been announced by the Western Australian Government. Agriculture Minister Kim Chance says the study will be independent, preventing companies with a vested interest in gm produce influencing the research results.

The trial comes just weeks after it was revealed that a GM pea study damaged the lungs of mice and Mr Chance says WA needs more comprehensive information. "Every now and again we find out about trials that have gone wrong," Mr Chance said. "But we only find out about them because somebody leaks them from the Life Science company and that's why we've taken, what is quite an unusual step."

"I don't think govts have ever done this before, of actually funding an independent long-term feeding trial to try to determine what kind of reaction we do get."

As DianeVegan says:

kay, you have now pointed out a VEGAN reason for boycotting GMs. I had not considered this before. I will assume that all GMs are tested on animals. And once again some hapless mice saved us from our own demise.

[eve]

A visiting US scientist, Charles Benbrook, says the use of GM crops has not left American farmers better off and Australian farmers need to seek independent advice before moving towards GM grains.

Benbrook, a former agricultural adviser to the Carter, Reagan, and Clinton govts, has urged the Western Australian Agricultural Department to conduct independent analysis of GM crops in local conditions. He says GM crops have not meant farmers in the US need to use less herbicide and says Australian farmers need an independent body to assess the benefits and potential risks.

"If they were to adopt herbicide tolerant canola, this is really 20-year-old technology now, they would be well advised to make sure before they do that, that there's some real sustained benefits," he said.