Panel to review moratorium on GM crops in NSW
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The review will be comprehensive, exploring issues directly associated with trade and market access resulting from the potential production of commercially grown GM food crops in NSW.
The NSW Gene Technology Act 2003 (GM Crop Moratorium) expires in March 2008. The State Government is keen to canvass all the possible options and stakeholder opinions before making a decision on the future of GM crops after March next year.
The review is about exploring the impacts on marketing and trade of either extending or modifying legislation, or allowing it to expire.
From the outset it is important to understand that State Government is responsible for legislation identifying and managing the risks of these two areas - trade and market access.
The Commonwealth regulates the use of GM in Australia as it relates to human health and safety and the environment. There needs to be a clear delineation of these responsibilities before the review gets underway.
In NSW, GM canola can currently only be grown for research purposes, when an exemption order is awarded. However, this season no GM canola is being grown in NSW.
The review will assess the expected impacts on marketing, trade and investment for NSW of:
- Extending the Gene Technology Act 2003 and maintaining the status quo;
- Amending the Act and removing the moratorium orders; and
- Allowing the Act to expire.
It will be chaired by former Nationals Minister for Agriculture, Ian Armstrong, and supported by agricultural scientist and lawyer Kathryn Adams and Professor Timothy Reeves.
The panel will shortly release details of the process for stakeholder consultation and submissions.
The Panel
Ian Armstrong - Was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was the Member for Lachlan from 1981 to 2007. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1978 for services to Primary Industries. Ian Armstrong was Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs. From 1993 until 1995, he was Deputy Premier of New South Wales as well as Minister for Ports and Minister for Public Works.
Kathryn Adams - Agricultural scientist and lawyer. Currently Senior Research Fellow with the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture at Griffith University. She is on the Boards of the Cotton Catchment Communities CRC, the Forest and Wood Products R&D Corporation, Safe Food Production Queensland, Future Farming Industries CRC and Food Science Australia. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Tim Reeves - Has worked for 39 years in agricultural research, development and extension, mostly focused on sustainable agriculture in Australia and overseas. He has received several international and national honours and is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and in 2003 received the Centenary of Federation Medal. From 1995 - 2002 he was Director General of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) based in Mexico and is chair of the NSW Agricultural Advisory Council on Gene Technology.
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