LABOR governments in NSW and Victoria have announced plans to lift their moratorium on genetically modified canola production, but their stance has not softened the opposition of Western Australian Agriculture Minister Kim Chance to GM crops. Mr Chance responded to the news by calling on his interstate counterparts to maintain their moratoria on GM crops. He said Australian farmers currently produced food of the highest quality and safety for both local consumption and export to a range of overseas markets. “We are heavily reliant on our export markets and lifting the GM moratorium could jeopardise this trade relationship,” Mr Chance said. Farm lobby group WAFarmers said the east coast initiatives reinforced its view that the WA government should follow suit. WAFarmers president Trevor De Landgrafft said: “WA growers have not only been left behind by their overseas competitors in recent years, but now also face the real risk of falling behind their interstate colleagues if the government persists with its moratorium”. “This development provides some much needed impetus to drive Mr Chance’s GM Stakeholder Reference Group, which has floundered of late.”
