14 June 2011
CropLife strongly urges the Federal Government and all of Australia’s state governments to recommit to a national approach to genetically modified (GM) regulation and that such regulation is commensurate with risk.
The current Gene Technology Act as administered by the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator is working well for approvals sought by the developers of GM crops. However, there are some problems with the legislation because of state government intervention and the involvement of other regulators, such as the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority creating regulatory duplication.
CropLife also believes that it is now time to increase the use of the GMO Register for genetically modified crops that have been sold commercially for several years without evidence of adverse effects. The GMO Register could also be used to list crops that are no longer commercially sold in Australia.