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While Australia does have regulations controlling the release of GE
organisms into the environment and the use of GE foods, the regulators
are all too willing to just give a rubber stamp to GE applications.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is responsible for assuring the safety of GE foods that enter our food chain, as well as for ensuring the labelling of GE foods. Unfortunately, FSANZ rely almost entirely on the data provided by the biotech companies for conducting food safety assessments, and our weak labelling laws mean that most GE foods remain unlabelled.
Greenpeace is calling on the federal government to adopt a full traceability system for GE food and to implement new regulations that include mandatory:
Funds must be made available to examine the plethora of health and environmental issues that remain unresolved around GE foods.
The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is responsible for regulating the release of GE organisms into the environment. Despite the lack of knowledge and the uncertainty and irreversibility of the risks, the OGTR has authorised the commercial release of GE canola in Australia, virtually without any conditions.
The OGTR assumes that GE organisms are safe for the environment unless proven otherwise – which is the exact opposite of the kind of precautionary approach that is required.
Greenpeace believes GE organisms are fundamentally unpredictable and the environmental release of GE crops should therefore be banned.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is responsible for assuring the safety of GE foods that enter our food chain, as well as for ensuring the labelling of GE foods. Unfortunately, FSANZ rely almost entirely on the data provided by the biotech companies for conducting food safety assessments, and our weak labelling laws mean that most GE foods remain unlabelled.
Greenpeace is calling on the federal government to adopt a full traceability system for GE food and to implement new regulations that include mandatory:
- Labelling of GE animal feed
- Labelling of products from animals fed GE feed
- Labelling of highly refined GE ingredients.
The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is responsible for regulating the release of GE organisms into the environment. Despite the lack of knowledge and the uncertainty and irreversibility of the risks, the OGTR has authorised the commercial release of GE canola in Australia, virtually without any conditions.
The OGTR assumes that GE organisms are safe for the environment unless proven otherwise – which is the exact opposite of the kind of precautionary approach that is required.
Greenpeace believes GE organisms are fundamentally unpredictable and the environmental release of GE crops should therefore be banned.
