permaculture

[Fiona Campbell + Russ Grayson <pacedge@magna.com.au>]

Subject: 
         Draft GE Food Standard
   Date: 
         Fri, 6 Mar 1998 14:08:07 +1100
  From: 
         acfgenet@peg.apc.org (Bob Phelps)
     To: 
         "GeneEthics Network" <acfgenet@peg.apc.org>


Dear Friends,

Re: Proposal P97 - Genetically Engineered Foods Standard.

The Australia NZ Food Authority draft standard has yet to be adopted by
Health Ministers so the main focus is now on them.

They will meet on March 10 for three days, however, another meeting is
scheduled for mid-April and it is tipped to be resolved then.

So maximum heat now, please, by fax.

NSW     Andrew Refshauge 02 9957 2145;
Vic     Rob Knowles     03 9616 8566;
Qld     Mike Horan      07 3229 4478;
SA      Dean Brown      08 8207 1950;
WA      Kevin Prince    08 9221 2068;
Tas     Peter McKay     03 6223 8033;
NT      Denis Burke     08 8999 6966;
ACT     Kate Carnell    02 6205 0399;
Fed     Trish Worth     02 6277 8533; (Parliamentary Undersecretary to
Health
                                        Minister Wooldridge)
NZ      Bill English  0011 644 473 7614.

Sorry I don't have their emails. Can someone supply????

A proforma letter follows which you may wish to use.

_______________________________________________________________________

6 March 1998

Minister for Health
Parliament House,
             000

Fax:

Dear Minister,

We call on you, and other Australian and NZ Health Ministers, to reject
the
Australia NZ Food Authority's draft Proposal P97, for a standard on
genetically engineered foods.

ANZFA has ignored the community's justified expectations that all
genetically engineered foods and food ingredients will be assessed in an
open and honest fashion, and any that are approved will be labelled.

The support for caution and labelling is reflected in numerous opinion
surveys which show around 90% citizen support for labels, thousands of
submissions on Proposal P97 to ANZFA calling for labels, and thousands
of
petition signatures to the Senate asking for labelling and pre-market
human
testing.

Despite this, draft P97 would require labelling only where a food can be
presented to food buyers as 'improved' or 'genetically enhanced'. This
is
advertising and PR, not the legitimate function of labels which should
give
unadorned information.

In an example of the proposal in action, ANZFA says a sweeter tomato
will
be labelled because the end product is different. But without a sound
rationale, foods from plants engineered with such things as Bt toxins
(insect killer), viral particles (virus resistant), antibiotic
resistance
marker genes (in most engineered plants as part of the production
process),
and herbicide tolerance (leaving up to 200 times the present level of
chemical residues), will be regarded as 'substantially equivalent' to
conventional plants and will not be labelled.

The proposal's failure to recommend a genuinely open, precautionary
approach to protecting public health, while also eliminating the food
buyers right to choose, makes us all part of a vast ad hoc experiment.
The
full impacts of such foods will not be known for many years. Such high
risk
foods, which have no history of safe use in the food supply, should all
be
clearly identified with labels.

They undergo no premarket human testing and are assessed on the basis of
industry generated data which cannot be independently reviewed because
the
information is held to be commercially confidential. The onus must be on
the companies to conclusively demonstrate safety, efficacy and
nutritional
value prior to commercialisation, not on citizens or regulators to
uncover
the hazards.

Contrary to ANZFA's claim that foods can't be identified as transgenic,
a
reliable screening test that is accurate at .01% is now available
through
Biowest at Murdoch University, to identify foods containing foreign DNA.
It
would allow foods to be readily identified, certified and labelled. You
should adopt its immediate use, to substantiate a labelling program.

An adverse reactions register is also needed as a precautionary measure,
so
any patterns of illness from genetically engineered foods will be
recognised quickly.

The Patents Office accepts genetically engineered foods are new and
different, granting monopoly rights over them for seventeen to twenty
years. This provides another sound rationale for identifying engineered
foods as truly novel and requiring them all to be labelled.

Like engineered foods, other novel foods - functional, irradiated and
synthetic (eg. Olestra) for example - should also be assessed through
open
processes with objective, peer reviewed information publicly available,
and
fully labelled.

The quality and safety of the food supply is at stake and we want a
precautionary response from our health ministers.

Yours sincerely,

........................................................................

........................................................................

........................................................................




Bob Phelps
Director
Australian GeneEthics Network
c/- ACF 340 Gore Street, Fitzroy. 3065 Australia
Tel: (03) 9416.2222 Fax: (03) 9416.0767 {Int Code (613)}
email: acfgenet@peg.apc.org
WWW: http://www.peg.apc.org/~acfgenet  (under construction)
-- 
PACIFIC EDGE PERMACULTURE
Russ Grayson and Fiona Campbell
PO Box 446, Kogarah NSW 2217 AUSTRALIA

Phone   02-9588 6931    (IDD-61+2+9588 6931)
Fax     9514 2611 (Mark fax: ATTN: RUSS GRAYSON - APACE) 
          (IDD-61+2+9514 2611)
Email: pacedge@magna.com.au

Permaculture education, publishing, design. 
NSW co-ordinator, Australian City Farms and Gardens Network.