REGULATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM) SUGARCANE IN AUSTRALIA

GENETICALLY modified (GM) sugarcane, as with any other genetically modified organism (GMO), must be approved by regulatory authorities before it can be released in Australia. Growing GMOs is regulated by the Gene Technology Regulator under the Gene Technology Act 2000. The object of the Act is ‘to protect the health and safety of people, and to protect the environment, by identifying risks posed by or as a result of gene technology, and by managing those risks through regulating certain dealings with genetically modified organisms’. Marketing and trade impacts are outside the scope of assessments required by the Act.To date, the Regulator has issued licences for six field trials of GM sugarcane in Australia. There were also trials of GM sugarcane under the former voluntary system that was overseen by the Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee (GMAC). The sizes of the releases range from 0.1–65 hectares and were all carried out in Queensland. There have been no applications for commercial release of GM sugarcane. Decision making is supported by science-based risk analysis. The decisions to grant licences for the environmental release of GM sugarcane require the preparation of Risk Assessment and Risk Management Plans (RARMPs) which apply the Regulator’s Risk Analysis Framework, based on internationally recognised standards. Information on the Australian regulatory system for gene technology is publicly available on the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) website at www.ogtr.gov.au.