Australian Financial Review http://www.afr.com.au/content/990618/news/news7.html June 18, 1999 Agriculture's genetic revolution could become a rotten apple By Cathy Bolt Australia's small but expanding organic food industry has warned that farmers who grow genetically-engineered crops may face legal action from their neighbours, adding to the bitter debate which is unfolding over the looming gene technology revolution in agriculture. The president of the Organic Federation of Australia, Mr Scott Kinnear, yesterday likened genetic contamination to chemical spray drift, and said it had the potential to inflict significant financial damage on organic farmers and conventional farmers who chose not to use genetically-modified crop varieties. He said an organic farmer whose crops were found to have been contaminated with genetically-modified material, for example through insect transfer of pollen, would lose their organic certification, as would a GM-free property. The latter was set to become more significant as more food manufacturers and retailers sought out and paid premiums for produce which farmers could guarantee was not derived from genetically-engineered plants. Japan and Europe were particularly sensitive markets. "There is going to be a huge push for people to certify their crops GE-free," Mr Kinnear said. While the genetic contamination issue had not yet arisen in Australia, he said there had been an incident in Europe where 87,000 packets of organic corn chips had been destroyed after being randomly tested for genetically-modified ingredients. The cause had been identified as pollen transfer to an organic farm in Texas. But the warning coincided with a strong endorsement of gene technology by AWB Ltd, Australia's biggest grain exporter. AWB's chairman, Mr Trevor Flugge, told an International Grain Council conference in London that biotechnology would lift seed breeding programs to a new level and provided the opportunity to "produce more with less, to produce more of better quality and produce more with less impact on the environment". Mr Flugge predicted the issue would have a high profile at the forthcoming World Trade Organisation negotiations and said it should not be allowed to become an unjustified barrier to trade. "We have to move past sensational headline grabbing and consider the real benefits, not just the perceived costs. The debate must be rational," he said. Mr Kinnear said farmers faced with contamination could seek an injunction to stop a GE crop being grown nearby, or they could claim damages for any losses they suffered. But he acknowledged proving the source of the contamination could be difficult. Further, there would be questions over who would be liable: the farmer who grew the transgenic crop, the company which owned the patent or the government which approved its release. Mr Kinnear called for a five-year freeze on the growing of GE crops while careful consideration was given to the potential damage from genetic "pollution" and the issue of liability. In other developments, the Australian New Zealand Food Authority said it had received around 500 submissions from Australia and 5,000 from New Zealand on plans to extend compulsory labelling to genetically-modified foods which are otherwise the same as their conventional counterparts. In a surprise move condemned by major food manufacturers, health ministers last December directed ANZFA to widen the compulsory labelling requirement, which currently applies only to foods which are significantly different in taste, nutritional value, appearance or chemical make-up. In its discussion paper on the issue, ANZFA asked respondents to address a number of questions, including which type of foods should be labelled, whether they would find a "may contain" label of any use, whether they would be prepared to pay higher food prices because of the costs associated with such labelling, and whether the regime should be reviewed within three years. The deadline for submissions was last Friday. c This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
