EXTRACT: Australia exported 312,000 tonnes of canola to Japan last year - 41 per cent of this country's canola export market. Ms Shimizu said Japanese consumers and producers were concerned about the environmental impact of growing GM canola.
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Removal of GM ban may cost Japanese contracts
Orietta Guerrera
The Age, October 19 2007
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/removal-of-gm-ban-may-cost-japanese-contracts/2007/10/18/1192300954609.html

VICTORIA risks losing lucrative Japanese contracts if its ban on commercial production of genetically modified canola is lifted, the State Government has been warned.

A delegation from Japan's No! GMO Campaign met senior Department of Primary Industries officials in Melbourne yesterday. The meeting was part of a 10-day campaign against GM canola in Australia.

The delegation presented a petition signed by 155 groups, which they say represent 2.9 million consumers, farmers and canola oil producers in Japan.

Most states and the ACT have bans on GM canola, or on GM crops in general. Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and South Australia are reviewing their stance.

In Victoria, a panel is examining the trade and economic implications of allowing the ban to lapse when it expires in February. Campaign spokeswoman Ryoko Shimizu said Japanese companies had turned to Australian canola because of its GM-free status after Canada started growing GM canola.

Australia exported 312,000 tonnes of canola to Japan last year - 41 per cent of this country's canola export market. Ms Shimizu said Japanese consumers and producers were concerned about the environmental impact of growing GM canola.