Monsanto, Bayer agree to Vic GM canola moratorium

Both Monsanto and Bayer CropScience have agreed to the Victorian State government's 12-month moratorium on the commercial release of GM canola in Victoria, which was announced by Minister for Agriculture Bob Cameron today.

Victoria is to prevent commercial release of the crop, despite expectations of forthcoming approval from the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR).

The moratorium is intended to provide a "careful and cautious" approach to the market issues related to the controversial crop, said Cameron in a statement. Although the Victorian Farmer's Federation has supported the introduction of GM canola, concerns linger about coexistence with non-GM crops.

"A full market impact assessment for Victorian produce will be done before the 2004 season commences," Cameron said.

"There have been concerns about the impact of the commercialisation of GM Canola on Victorian export markets. These issues need to be satisfactorily resolved before we can confidently move forward."

A spokesman for Monsanto Australia said that the company was committed to working with the state government on the issue, and supported the need for assessment.

"We are disappointed there is a moratorium, but we recognise the need to work with the government and committed to that to ensure that the technology is available to farmers in the longer term," he said.

Monsanto's Roundup Ready Canola had been available in Canada and the US for eight years and was now the single most popular choice in Canada, he said, and the company believed that farmers in Victoria would make a similar choice.

But in any case, neither Monsanto nor Bayer has yet received a green light from the OGTR at this point, and time is running out for this year's planting season.

And Bayer indicated recently that the introduction of commercially-grown GM canola would be carefully managed, and would be restricted to a small number of farmers in the first year. Both companies are still approved to conduct further field trials in a number of states, including Victoria.