Pay farmers for lost GM opportunity

The 10-year ban extension is too long as better crops roll out, writes Jan Davis

ON the face of it, the announcement of the extension of the state’s moratorium on genetically modified organisms comes as no surprise.

There is currently a limited range of GM products available to the Tasmanian agriculture sector, and there is little obvious market demand for GM products. There would thus seem to be little to gain in lifting the moratorium for the time being.

However, technology and markets are changing rapidly — and 10 years is simply too long for this extension.

The extension needs to include a clear trigger mechanism to allow an industry to seek an exemption, on the basis that at the time of the implementation of the moratorium, the gene technology in question was not available. The current exemptions should remain in place, particularly for poppies or other crops for pharmaceutical purposes and research provisions for non-food plants. And any extension of the moratorium must include a clear and scientifically robust definition of what is to be considered as genetic modification or genetic engineering.

Furthermore, the Tasmanian Government needs to step up to the plate and commit to financially supporting the industry while it faces market interventions that impose constraints that do not apply to our competitors.

The Tasmanian Government has set an ambitious goal to increase the annual value of the agricultural sector to $10 billion by 2050. To reach $10 billion, the Government recognises the sector will need to grow at more than double the rate of the past 20 years.

When the moratorium was introduced in 2001, the then government committed to investing in specific market measures to promote the supposed advantages of our GMO-free status. When the moratorium was extended in 2014, the then government said it supported GM research being conducted here, and that it saw opportunities for non-GM research to deliver equivalent efficiency gains.

No funding has been delivered to meet either of these commitments. Investment in these areas is required if the 2050 targets have any chance of being met.

Gene technologies are simply tools in the toolbox of the modern scientist. Like all tools, application is what matters. All new technologies require review and testing, but concerns should be based on science and evidence, not on myths and misunderstandings.

Since GM crop cultivation started in 1996, the proportion of GM crop varieties globally has grown from zero to about 13 per cent of the world’s cropland. Over that time, more than 180 million hectares have been saved from ploughing and cultivation, leading to better water storage, limited soil erosion and increased availability of land for other environmental uses.

GM and non-GM crops have been grown successfully side-by-side in Australia and 24 other countries. Almost all regions that examined the potential for GMO-free marketing have concluded that any potential benefits did not outweigh the costs.

More than 15 years of evidence shows the GMO moratorium has hurt the state’s economy and has failed to give local growers an advantage in domestic and global markets.

Tasmanian farmers should have a right to choose the best products and technologies to maximise their productivity and competitiveness.

However, if government decides to intervene in market processes, it must be prepared to put its money where its mouth is — and invest in activities that will go some way to redressing these constraints on trade.