Greens MP Ian Cohen is calling on the Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald to hold multinational agribusinesses such as Monsanto liable for contamination of conventional canola crops from genetically modified canola.
“Minister Macdonald is a key advocate of managing genetically modified organisms in our environment through industry self regulation. With the GM patent owners in charge of preventing contamination of conventional canola through industry self regulation, it makes sense that the patent owners should be liable for contamination,” says Greens MP Ian Cohen
“We don’t want farmers turning on each other in vicious litigation over GM contamination. Often farmers lured to use GM technology are done so on false promises of increased yields and find themselves locked into onerous technology user agreements that hijack a farmer’s ability to manage their farm. If the large agribusiness is so confident they can prevent widespread contamination similar to that witnessed in Canada then they shouldn’t have a problem with wearing liability for contamination.”
“ After National Variety Trials in Horsham and Forbes last year showed conventional canola outperform GM on yield, the large agribusinesses are now sending their PR machine into overdrive to compensate for poor GM performance. Increasing sales of GM Canola will not be a result of farmers finding merit and performance in GM Canola but a result of creating market disincentives for conventional canola”.
“Since the lifting of the moratorium on GM crops by the NSW Government in 2007, the Minister has given free rein to GM proponents to create market disadvantage after market disadvantage for conventional canola growers. When asked during question time whether the Minister thought it was fair that conventional canola growers should pay $2.50 a tonne to Graincorp for testing and segregation of conventional canola, the Minister blundered through a nonsensical response about which multinational agribusinesses he had discussed the matter with,” say Mr Cohen.
If the Minister does not intervene to create the necessary safeguards against contamination and put in place adequate liability rules I will proceed with a Private Members bill, the Gene Technology (GM Crop Moratorium) Amendment (Right to Damages) Bill 2009 which will place liability for GM contamination on patent owners.
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