GMOs: the wisdom of crowds & the folly of deregulation

Summary

Australia’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is pushing to change the definition of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The proposed changes would remove from regulation some GMOs that are presently subject to regulation by the OGTR. At present GMOs are subject to risk analysis, to safety evaluations, and to GM labelling if used in food. The proposed regulations, if they are not disallowed by the Australian Parliament, will water down the definition of GMOs in Australia, will have Australia applying definitions of GMOs that are different from major trading partners, and they risk damaging the clean and green export reputation of Australia's food and agriculture sectors. The GM proposed deregulation would be bad science and bad deregulation. Australia is a minnow in the world of GMOs, accounting for just 0.4% of the global GMO agricultural hectares (Australian organic agriculture accounts for 51% of global organic agriculture). GMOs account for just 0.2% of Australia’s agricultural hectares (organic accounts for 8.8%). Food shoppers of the world reject GM food, led by Chinese consumers of whom 60% reject GM food. OGTR figures reveal that only 10% of Australians agree with the proposition that GMOs are “safe”. GMOs require labelling in Australia, and a direct consequence is that there are no GM food products on Australian supermarket shelves. The global GMO industry is founded on the lie of “substantial equivalence” where GM proponents insist to regulators that their GMO is the “same” as the organism from which it is derived, but to the Patent Office that their GMO is “novel, unique, different, and a real invention” and that it thereby warrants patent protection. Recent failures of deregulation, including London’s Grenfell Tower, Melbourne’s Lacrosse Apartments, and Sydney’s Opal Tower, highlight the follies of deregulation, and the reality that deregulation privatises profits and socialises costs. The case has not been made for deregulating of GMO in Australia, and there are substantial uncalibrated costs, risks and downsides for Australia’s food and agriculture exports industry. The proposed regulations ought to be disallowed.