The Organic Growers Association of Western Australia (OGAWA), the peak body representing Western Australia’s producers and consumers of organic food is calling for restraint following the back flip by the WAFF today.

GMO technology is disallowed under organic certification and the organic industry as a whole has always adopted a cautious response to GM products. Events overseas have highlighted the need for care where herbicide resistance has actually increased over time with GM crops and many of the widely published advantages of GM have been disputed. Claims that human and environmental health is unaffected also remain unproven.

'Our main concerns with GM technology relate to three specific areas which have not been dealt with in the statement by WAFF,’ says Annie Kavanagh, President of OGAWA.

'Firstly, the contamination issues which noted the report indicated are inevitable. There are no clear guidelines on who would be responsible for the monitoring of contamination - basically for us if GM is found in organic food and crops, it looses its organic certification and so organic farmers lose their livelihood. Keeping GM product separate from organic or non-GM will be very difficult and costly and could easily get into the non-GM food chain unnoticed without controls.’

'We have major concerns over the liability issues surrounding GM crops. There are enough law suits in place, particularly in North America, which should make all farmers seriously worried about potential legal action against them if their crops become inadvertently contaminated by GM seed drift,' added Annie.

'At present the liability rests with everyone else not the GM companies who cannot be sued themselves for allowing their GM product to contaminate organic product or for that matter non GM products. In North America non-GM farmers are the ones carrying the cost of ensuring their crops remain GM free. The OGAWA believes at the very least that those using GM should be held responsible for the costs arising from detection and contamination problems'.

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