Ludwig News - 2011 Review of the Gene Technology Act 2000 - Final Report

In August 2011, the Final Report of the Review of the Gene Technology Act 2000 (“the Report”) was completed by The Allen Consulting Group.

The Report acknowledges that:

• “over one third of the submissions came from individuals who were mostly critical of the use of gene technology in Australia” (page 17); and
• “NGOs were mostly critical of gene technology in Australia” (page 17).

Nevertheless, the Report does not address the concerns raised by the public nor the NGOs, such as contamination of non GM (genetically modified) crops with GM crops. 

The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing received a total of 48 submissions. The Report does not address the submissions made by Beatrice Ludwig (submission 41) that a strict liability for GM contamination of non GM crops be incorporated into the Gene Technology Act 2000 (Cth) nor that a compulsory insurance scheme be set up for anyone dealing with GM crops following the example of other countries, such as Germany.

Moreover, the original public submissions were transcribed onto the website of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing containing numerous mistakes, some of which literally changed the meaning of the submissions to the opposite. For example, Beatrice Ludwig, in her submission, quoted the following extract from the UN 2011 publication “Save and Grow - A policymaker’s guide to sustainable intensification of smallholder crop production”:

“It is now recognised that those enormous gains in agricultural production and productivity [from monoculture industrial agriculture in the Green Revolution] were often accompanied by negative effects on agriculture’s natural resource base, so serious that they jeopardize its productive potential in the future.” 

The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing transcript misquoted this as:

“It is not recognised that those enormous gains in agricultural production and productivity [from monoculture industrial agriculture in the Green Revolution] were often accompanied by negative effects on agriculture’s natural resource base, so serious that they jeopardize its productive potential in the future.”

This mistake was not corrected despite requests to do so.

You can read the original submission by Beatrice Ludwig here:

Contact Ludwig Lawyers

To find out more about the Gene Technology Act or our Practice Areas, such as Civil Litigation, Intellectual Property and Sustainable Agriculture, contact Beatrice Ludwig on 0410 583 550 or at beatrice@ninjalawyers.com.au.

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