Australian states end genetically modified crop bans

Date:11-29-2007

The Australian state governments of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria have accepted the recommendations of independent review panels to end their moratoriums on the cultivation of genetically modified food crops early next year. Farming and industry groups have welcomed the moves and urged similar action by the South Australia government. In 2006, South Australia extended its three-year moratorium to April 2008 and accepted the need to review its legislation in consultation with the other states. Western Australia, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory also have GM crop moratoriums in place.

The governments of Victoria and NSW have agreed that their moratoriums should not be extended beyond the February/March 2008 expiration dates laid down in their respective legislation. The NSW government plans to amend its legislation to establish an expert committee to assess whether an industry is capable of segregating GM and non-GM crops. "The Minister will have the power to refuse approval to cultivate a specific crop if an industry fails to meet the criteria imposed by the expert committee," says NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald.

The NSW government banned the cultivation of GM food crops in 2003 and extended the three-year moratorium for a further two years in 2005. It appointed a review panel this year to explore the impacts on trade and market access of extending or modifying the moratorium, or allowing it to expire. The government concludes that NSW farmers have missed out on export opportunities as a result of the failure to adopt GM canola. "Market conditions have changed since the [GM crop moratorium] Act was introduced, with GM canola now responsible for 70% of the world's trade," Mr Macdonald says.

The review panel's recommendations for amendments to the legislation recognise "the change in the preparedness of the grains industry to manage GM food crops and the increasing consumer acceptance of GM technology". The panel acknowledges that efforts undertaken by the industry demonstrate that it is "ready to manage GM canola in such a way that ensures market choice for supply chain participants, including consumers".

The Victoria government imposed its four-year moratorium on GM canola in 2004. It was aimed specifically at Monsanto's glyphosate-tolerant Roundup Ready canola and Bayer CropScience's glufosinate-tolerant InVigor canola, which received federal approvals in 2003. The government accepts its review panel's recommendation that the moratorium should be allowed to expire and that it should be left to the market to determine whether segregation of GM and non-GM crops is required. It supports the recommendation that the "Single Vision Grains Australia" initiative be adopted nationally to ensure that any co-existence strategy is national in scope.

Both the Victoria and NSW governments have agreed to work towards a national framework on GM crops through the Primary Industries Ministerial Council. Farming groups such as the NSW Farmers' Association have been urging co-ordinated action on the state moratoriums in view of inter-state trade and grain movement. The Grains Research and Development Corporation welcomes the end of the moratoriums in Victoria and NSW and calls for similar action in South Australia. It believes that the moves will encourage further research on GM crops in Australia.

The anti-GM crop group, the Network for Concerned Farmers (NCF), wants the moratoriums to stay in place. It maintains that the introduction of GM canola will cost non-GM canola growers over Aus$65 million (US$57 million) a year. "There is clear evidence of the risk to non-GM [crop] farmers and we should not be expected to bear unjust costs," the NCF says.