NEWS: GM Crops: GM canola gets Govt nod
Checkbiotech
March 5, 2007
Excerpt…
Genetically modified, or GM, canola is finding ready acceptance in international markets at prices very similar to those received for conventional canola, according to ABARE’s new "Market acceptance of GM canola" research report.
The report examines acceptance of GM canola in world markets. Concerns about acceptance led to moratoriums being imposed by state governments on the commercial production of GM canola in Australia’s key canola producing states.
"The report found that, in the traditional import markets for canola – Japan, Mexico, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh – GM canola is generally accepted as readily as conventional canola and is priced at very similar levels," ABARE Executive Director Phillip Glyde says.
"Despite perceptions of resistance to GM grains in world markets, countries that are producing GM varieties of soybeans, corn, cotton and canola dominate the world export trade in these grains."
Glyde also pointed to the already wide use of products from GM crops in the domestic Australian market, particularly with domestically produced GM cottonseed and imported GM soybean products, and suggested that GM canola will generally be accepted by food manufacturers and consumers in Australia’s domestic market.
Australia’s traditional export markets for canola accept genetically modified (GM) canola just as readily as conventional canola – and pay a similar price for both.
In welcoming the report Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran, said: "Fears about GM canola have proved unfounded and consumers around the world now accept it to be a safe food ingredient. As a result of this, Australian growers of non-GM canola are not receiving any overall premium. The report also confirms that Australia…is already a large consumer of GM products".
