Australia: Zero tolerance to GM remains in sustainable agriculture

"People are buying organic food because they don't want GM technology in the food that they purchase. We had the case in Europe where the government has set a tolerance, but if you look at the market-place, it is still demanding zero tolerance." - National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia chair, Jan Denham (see article below)

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*Help organic farmer fight Monsanto
Organic farmer in Western Australia, Steve Marsh, says he will sue the owner of a neighbouring farm, after being stripped of his organic certification because GM canola was found on his property. Marsh says the GM material blew in from a neighbouring property. He says he has been left with no option but to take legal action. "Nobody enjoys pursuing their neighbour but what do we do?" he said. Marsh's lawyer says the damage bill could reach millions of dollars.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12795

Monsanto has stated that it will back the GM farmer responsible for the contamination. Please donate to support Steve Marsh in his fight against Monsanto. You can donate by direct payment to the following bank account:
Bendigo Bank
Account Name: NASAA (WA) Inc GM Contamination Fund
BSB: 633000
Account Number: 141944298
More information:
http://www.nasaa-wa.com.au/NASAA_WA/Home.html
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Zero tolerance to GM remains: NASAA
By Karen Hunt
ABC Rural, Western Australia
Wednesday, 26/01/2011
http://bit.ly/gazf5Z

The National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia is standing firm on its zero tolerance stance on genetically modified contamination.”¨”¨
However the organisation says it is willing to speak with the grains industry about ways to prevent future contamination issues.”¨”¨
NASAA de-certified Western Australian organic grower Steve Marsh's accreditation after GM canola seed was discovered on his property near Kojonup.”¨”¨Mr Marsh alleges GM canola blew onto his land from a neighbour's property.”¨”¨
NASAA chair Jan Denham says there's been no signal from the market that consumers want the standards changed.”¨”¨
"That is why people are buying organic food because they don't want GM technology in the food that they purchase.”¨”¨
"We had the case in Europe where the government has set a tolerance, but if you look at the market-place, it is still demanding zero tolerance."”¨”¨
Ms Denham says any change to the standards would need to be publicly debated between industry and consumers.”¨”¨
However she says the industry has just been through a wide public consultation for Standards Australia in developing the Australian standards and there was no push for allowing for anything other than zero tolerance.”¨”¨
Ms Denham says there are other ways to prevent this situation happening again.”¨”¨
"My understanding is this canola was swathed and it was left to lie; maybe one of the changes is that GM canola to reduce another area that could create possible contamination should only be direct harvested."”¨”¨
She says industry would also like to see some moves made by the GM sector to address the issue, rather than have the organics industry expected to bear the burden of change.