GM Watch
  • Main Menu
    • Home
    • News
      • Newsletter subscription
      • News Reviews
      • News Languages
        • Notícias em Português
        • Nieuws in het Nederlands
        • Nachrichten in Deutsch
      • Archive
    • Articles
      • GM Myth Makers
      • GM Reports
      • GM Quotes
      • GM Myths
      • Non-GM successes
      • GM Firms
        • Monsanto: a history
        • Monsanto: resources
        • Bayer: a history
        • Bayer: resources
    • Videos
      • Latest Videos
      • Must see videos
      • Agriculture videos
      • Labeling videos
      • Animals videos
      • Corporations videos
      • Corporate takeover videos
      • Contamination videos
      • Latin America videos
      • India videos
      • Asia videos
      • Food safety videos
      • Songs videos
      • Protests videos
      • Biofuel myths videos
      • Index of GM crops and foods
      • Index of speakers
      • Health Effects
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donations
News and comment on genetically modified foods and their associated pesticides    
  • News
    • Newsletter subscription
    • News Reviews
    • News Languages
      • Notícias em Português
      • Nieuws in het Nederlands
      • Nachrichten in Deutsch
    • Archive
      • 2022 articles
  • Articles
    • GM Myth Makers
    • GM Reports
    • GM Quotes
    • GM Myths
    • Non-GM successes
    • GM Firms
      • Monsanto: a history
      • Monsanto: resources
      • Bayer: a history
      • Bayer: resources
  • Donations
  • Videos
    • Index of speakers
    • Glyphosate Videos
    • Latest Videos
    • Must see videos
    • Health Effects
    • Agriculture videos
    • Labeling videos
    • Animals videos
    • Corporations videos
    • Corporate takeover videos
    • Contamination videos
    • Latin America videos
    • India videos
    • Asia videos
    • Food safety videos
    • Songs videos
    • Protests videos
    • Biofuel myths videos
    • Index of GM crops and foods
  • Contact
  • About
SUBSCRIBE TO REVIEWS

GMWatch Facebook cornfield banner

INTRODUCTION TO GM

GMO Myths and Facts front page.jpg

SCIENCE SUPPORTS REGULATION OF GENE EDITING

Plant tissue cultures

GENE EDITING: UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES AND RISKS

Damaged DNA on fire

GENE EDITING MYTHS AND REALITY

A guide through the smokescreen

Gene Editing Myths and Reality

ON-TARGET EFFECTS OF GENE EDITING

Damaged DNA

News Menu

  • Latest News
  • News Reviews
  • Archive
  • Languages

News Archive

  • 2023 articles
  • 2022 articles
  • 2021 articles
  • 2020 articles
  • 2019 articles
  • 2018 articles
  • 2017 articles
  • 2016 articles
  • 2015 articles
  • 2014 articles
  • 2013 articles
  • 2012 articles
  • 2011 articles
  • 2010 articles
  • 2009 articles
  • 2008 articles
  • 2007 articles
  • 2006 articles
  • 2005 articles
  • 2004 articles
  • 2003 articles
  • 2002 articles
  • 2001 articles
  • 2000 articles

Please support GMWatch

Donations

You can donate via Paypal or credit/debit card.

Some of you have opted to give a regular donation. This is greatly appreciated as it helps place us on a more stable financial basis. Thank you for your support!

GM contamination widespread in Australia

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Published: 01 September 2005
Twitter

Just how damaging GM trials can be is highlighted by the news that ABB Grain, which has been randomly testing canola (oilseed rape) samples in South Australia, has reported finding contamination from Topas 19/2 - a variety that has not been trialed there since 1997!!

This is the third detection of GM contamination of Australian grain within the last couple of months, following cases in Victoria and Western Australia. Still more worryingly, ABB also report that the contamination is extensive - turning up at low levels "in many samples". (GM contamination found in canola sample)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200509/1450989.htm?southeastsa
------

GE contamination spreads: inaction spreads faster
Press release, Thursday September 1, 2005

News that Bayer's genetically engineered canola "Topas" has been found in South Australia, confirms fears of the widespread contamination of Australian canola and the lack of action by state governments to protect their GE free farmers and status, Greenpeace said today.

"Two months after the discovery of the Topas contamination in Victoria, State Governments still don't know the source of the contamination or the number of farmers growing contaminated canola," said Greenpeace genetic engineering campaigner, Jeremy Tager. "We still don’t have any commitment to the eradication of the contamination or compensation provisions for farmers."

"South Australia, like Victoria, appears to be leaving the entire mess in the hands of organisations with pro-GE policies and no credibility. New South Wales appears to be doing nothing at all," Tager said.

"Trusting the pro-GE Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF) to supervise GE contamination testing is putting the fox in charge of the hen-house. This is the same organisation whose strategic plan commits it to 'deliver acceptance of GM products'.* The AOF's proposal for how GE and non-GE agriculture could coexist, was rejected by industry in 2003, because the protocols would not prevent genetic contamination."

"The AOF says it will take two months to discover the origins of the contamination. This is unacceptable, when highly reliable laboratory GE tests take less than a week. How long will it take to discover which farmers are contaminated? At the current pace, we won't know where the contamination is until after harvest and GE Topas is spread into the world's food chain. "

This lack of urgency and action serves only the GE industry, which has been arguing that because the industry cannot control contamination, farmers and the broader community must accept it. The longer the contamination remains in the food chain, the harder it will be to remove.

The notion of ratifying industry incompetence by ignoring Australia's worst genetic contamination event is unacceptable.

Clear, unequivocal statements from State Governments are long overdue. To maintain the confidence of farmers and the community in the state GE bans, State Governments must:

* commit to a zero tolerance policy for genetic contamination

* require immediate and comprehensive testing to determine the scope of the contamination.

* guarantee that it is not the taxpayer or farmer that pays for the costs of testing - costs that are likely to blow out.

* guarantee that no farmers will face liability for inadvertently growing GE canola.

* guarantee that their State moratorium will be upheld and the Topas contamination eradicated.

"If State Governments are going to have GE crop bans, they must enforce them. This is the test they face now, and are currently failing," Tager concluded.

* http://www.australianoilseeds.com/welcome_to_aof/strategic_plan

Contact: Jeremy Tager, Campaigner 07 3892 7538 mo: 0438 679 263
Carolin Wenzel, Media Officer 02 9263 0358 mo: 0417 668

Menu

Home

Subscriptions

News Archive

News Reviews

Videos

Articles

GM Myth Makers

GM Reports

GM Myths

GM Quotes

Non-GM Successes

Contacts

Contact Us

About

Facebook

Twitter

Donations

Content 1999 - 2023 GMWatch.
Web Development By SCS Web Design