Greenpeace to step up fight against GM canola in Australia

Greenpeace Australia Pacific has signalled that it will step up its campaign to block the introduction of genetically modified canola into Australia, by advertising for a new anti-GM campaigner.

Selection criteria for the position, as described on the organisation's web site, include "an understanding of the environmental, social and economic impacts of genetically engineered food and crops", and "proven knowledge of the food, biotech or agriculture sector."

Asked why the selection criteria did not specify a scientific understanding of biotechnology, Greenpeace's Australian campaign coordinator, John Hepburn, said the appointee would be working as part of a team that included several individuals with scientific training.

They include a PhD in genetics, and several environmental science graduates. "Greenpeace International also has a science unit," Hepburn said.

He said Greenpeace's opposition to growing herbicide-tolerant GM canola in Australia was based on the precautionary principle.

"We don't consider geneticists had a sufficient understanding of genetics, biology and ecosystems to predict the long-term impacts," he said. "Canola is a very promiscuous crop, and the herbicide-resistance gene will spread very easily. It will be impossible to recall if it is released into the environment, and we also have some health concerns.

"But we have broader objections to GM crops, involving a range of political issues, patenting of genes, and the control of agriculture by multinational corporations."

Hepburn said Greenpeace Australia Pacific would also oppose the release of other GM crops in Australia, including GM wheat.

Asked if warnings about long-term human health impacts had been proven baseless by the unblemished safety record of GM foods in the six years since they entered Western supermarkets, Hepburn said that GM foods were not labelled in the US, the world's largest consumer of GM foods, so it was not possible to link adverse health effects to consumption of GM foods.

He said that although the pharmaceutical industry was more tightly regulated than the food industry, there had been cases in which adverse human health effects of certain drugs had not become apparent until years after their release.