Australia
August 6, 2013

• Ag Institute of Australia
• Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF)
• Australian Seed Federation (ASF)
• Cotton Australia
• Grain Trade Australia (GTA)
• Science and Technology Australia (STA) [Read more…]

 
SECTION 3: Key issues

ANIMAL FEED SAFETY QUESTIONED
In June 2013, a long-awaited animal feeding study was published in the Journal of Organic Systems. According to the researchers, “the level of severe inflammation in stomachs was markedly higher in pigs fed the GM diet.” These results have been widely discredited and contradict more than 150 scientific studies conducted to evaluate the safety of animals fed GM crops. [Read more…]
 
NON-APPROVED GM WHEAT IN THE USA
In May, an Oregon State University scientist notified the US Department of Agriculture authorities that some plant samples found in a field were GM herbicide tolerant wheat volunteers. The GM variety has been confirmed as the glyphosate herbicide tolerant variety under licensed field trials in the USA from 1998 to 2005. No GM wheat varieties are approved for sale or commercial production anywhere in the world. An investigation is underway to determine how this happened. [Read more…]
 
GM FOOD SAFETY ASSESSMENT PROCESS QUESTIONED (RNAi)
A study published in the journal Environment International in May 2013 claims food safety regulators are allowing potentially dangerous GM foods into the global food supply. Food Standards Australia New Zealand has responded to these claims. [Read more…]
 
GM CORN STUDY DISCREDITED
In September 2012, French university scientists led by Gilles-Eric Seralini published research results in the Food and Chemical Toxicology journal claiming that rats fed a particular GM corn variety experienced negative health effects. The study has been widely discredited by the global science community and regulatory authorities in Australia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and France. [Read more…]
 
GM CANOLA LEGAL CASE IN WA
The Western Australian Supreme Court has rejected an injunction seeking to prevent Michael Baxter from planting GM canola on his property. Mr Baxter’s neighbour Steve Marsh had sought the injunction to prevent Mr Baxter planting GM canola this season within 400 metres of his organic farm. [Read more…]
 
MONSANTO WILL NO LONGER PURSUE GM CROPS IN EUROPE
Monsanto has announced that it will no longer pursue approvals for the cultivation of new GM crops in Europe, but it will continue to focus on enabling imports of approved GM crops into the EU (a huge importer of GM grains). [Read more…]
 
SECTION 4: In the pipeline

TASMANIA’S GM MORATORIUM REVIEW
Tasmania’s moratorium on GMOs ends in November 2014 and a review of the State’s GMO status has commenced. On 25 June, the Primary Industries Minister Bryan Green announced the terms of reference for the review. [Read more…]
 
GM SALMON IN NORTH AMERICA: REGULATORY UPDATE
In February, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it had extended the public comment period for the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and preliminary “finding of no significant [environmental] impact” in regards to a fast-growing GM salmon developed by AquaBounty Technologies. [Read more…]
 
GENE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS IN HORTICULTURE
Two horticultural products are also significantly advanced in the regulatory approval pipeline in North America. Arctic apples, developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits in Canada have been modified to be non-browning when cut or bruised, and using gene technology, Simplot has developed a potato with multiple new characteristics. [Read more…]
 
CROPLIFE INTERNATIONAL - GM CROPS IN THE PIPELINE
CropLife International has released updated plant biotechnology pipeline information. [Read more…]
 
SECTION 5: Resources

US COURT DECISION ON DNA PATENTS
The United States’ highest court, the Supreme Court, has ruled that a naturally occurring deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated. [Read more…]
 
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT - COMMUNITY PERCEPTIONS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
The Commonwealth Government has been monitoring consumer perceptions about biotechnology in Australia on a bi-annual basis since 1999, and the latest survey results from 2012 have now been released. [Read more…]
 
PG ECONOMICS - GM CROP IMPACTS
In April, UK-based PG Economics released its annual report on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of GM crops around the world. [Read more…]
 
ISAAA - LATEST GLOBAL GM CROP STATISTICS
The 2012 statistics regarding the global use of GM crops were released in February and show a six per cent increase in usage from 2011, with the global area now exceeding 170 million hectares across 28 countries. [Read more…]
 
MARK LYNAS’ PRESENTATIONS
Mark Lynas, an author, environmentalist and former member of an anti-GM movement group, confronts anti-GM groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth about their stance on biotechnology and the lack of evidence to support their claims. [Read more…]
 
JOURNAL ARTICLE – GM CROPS AND FOOD SECURITY
This article focuses on how growing GM crops may influence smallholder farmers’ income and thus their economic access to food and provides the first ex post analysis of food security impacts of GM crops at the micro level. [Read more…]
 
JOURNAL ARTICLE - GM FIELD PEA RESEARCH UPDATE
In 2005, CSIRO scientists discontinued research into a GM field pea resistant to the pea weevil after feeding trials showed negative immune responses in mice. Recently, new international research funded by the European Commission, undertaken at the Medical University of Vienna, has further explored this immune response. [Read more…]
 
JOURNAL ARTICLE - GM CROP SAFETY ANALYSIS – TIME FOR A RE-THINK?
According to a paper published in February 2013 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, it may be time to re-think the use of compositional equivalence studies required of GM crop developers by regulatory regimes globally because unintended compositional effects that could be caused by genetic modification have not materialised.  [Read more…]
 
SECTION 5. Events

Food, Water and Energy for a Hungry World, Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference 2013
Date: 15-18 September 2013
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Details: Some presentation topics include: Ideal grain ingredients: breeding for health; The potential role of biotechnology in animal health; There’s a science to feeding the world; Are bio-derived products a practical answer for sustainable agriculture?; Innovations to enable adaptability in agriculture; New frontiers in bioremediation; Implications of biosafety regulatory costs and time delays on R&D; and, Genomics for cereal nutrition and quality in a changing climate.
Web: www.abic.ca/abic2013/html/news.html
 
Agriculture, food, water and energy nexus – emerging technical and social challenges & the role of biotechnology
Date: 18 September 2013
Location: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Level 11, 550 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Details: By 2050 the world will have a population of nine billion people and the OECD has declared a need to address the energy/water/food/agriculture nexus. Demand for food in Asia is likely to double between 2007 and 2050 with China accounting for almost half of increased demand. Understanding the longer-term outlook for Australian industries will help businesses improve productivity and exploit emerging opportunities. We will need this knowledge to take advantage of changing demand in the Asian century. Come along to this event to hear from industry and government leaders about the role of biotechnology in addressing the looming population growth in relation to energy, food, water and agriculture.
Web: www.ausbiotech.org/events/
 
 
Disclaimer: The Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia Limited (ABCA) gives no warranty and makes no representation that the information contained in this document is suitable for any purpose or is free from error. ABCA accepts no responsibility for any person acting or relying upon the information contained in this document, and disclaims all liability.

Website: http://www.abca.com.au/

Published: August 6, 2013