States, Feds divided on GM crops

Government opposition to genetically modified food crops is hardening at the State level, even as the potential approval for such crops draws nearer at the Federal level.

In the past week, both Western Australia and NSW have placed themselves solidly in the anti-GM camp as far as commercially-grown food crops are concerned.

Western Australia's Cabinet announced late last month it will draft legislation to reinforce its existing policy of a five-year moratorium on commercial plantings of GM food crops.

A few days later, on March 4, election-bound NSW Premier Bob Carr committed any new Labor government to a ban of at least three years on any commercial release of GM food crops in that state.

Cited as a factor in both announcements were applications before the Federally-appointed Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) to grow GM food commercially.

The applications by Monsanto Australia and Bayer CropScience could receive OGTR approval for the first Australian commercial releases of a GM food crop -- GM canola -- as early as April.

Carr pointed to the approaching deadline as a major reason for the inclusion of a state-wide ban in his election promises.

The issue of cross-pollination between GM and non GM crops represented a problem severe enough to warrant a NSW pause of "at least three years" on the issue, Carr said.

The National Party is pressing for an indefinite moratorium on GM food crops based on consumer resistance and farmer concerns.

The Labor Party's promised three-year ban would not affect genetically modified non-food crops, such as cotton. Currently in NSW, cotton production is split almost evenly between GM and non-GM plantings.

In Western Australia, Agriculture Minister Kim Chance said Cabinet would give priority to drafting legislation which designates either the entire state or specific regions as GM-free zones for commercial crops.

Chance has labelled the pending legislation a "back-up plan" because he has an undertaking from Monsanto that the company would not plant commercial-scale trials in WA even if their application is approved by the OGTR.

A spokesman for Chance said the new legislation could be through State Parliament by July.

Andy McMillan, policy director for the WA Farmers Federation, said he doubted Monsanto would want to proceed with any commercial plantings in WA for at least a year even if it receives OGTR approval.

Trial plots of GM canola "didn't work out well as planned because of wet weather," he said. Until more reliable results can be obtained, Monsanto is unlikely to proceed with full commercial plantings.

Meanwhile, the federation is keeping an open mind about commercial GM crops but its GM policy will be up for review in April when its membership is due to hold a workshop on the issue.

"It is entirely up to them whether we [the Federation] hit the brakes or the accelerator," he said.

Meanwhile, the Grain Pool of Western Australia is highlighting practical difficulties within the existing grain transport handling system as a drawback to the co-existence of GM and GM-free crops.

In the present system, contamination between the two types would be impossible to prevent, according to a paper released by the grain pool's R&D manager Peter Portmann at a recent conference.

That would result in products which could not be guaranteed GM-free and create a norm in which products could only be said to have contaminants below certain levels.

Portmann also suggested consumers were prepared to pay no more than $AUD10 a tonne extra for non-GM canola crops.