Senator Grant Tambling

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Aged Care

Monday, 19 June 2000

Government Unveils Details Of Gm Safety Assessment Process For GM Foods

Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Aged Care, Senator Grant Tambling, today launched a booklet aimed at demystifying the complex safety assessments carried out by the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) on genetically modified (GM) foods.

Speaking at a Parliament House function, Senator Tambling said there is good reason for confidence in the rigour of the system to ensure the safety of foods on our supermarket shelves.

“ANZFA has developed a scientific assessment process equal to the best in the world to check the safety of GM foods before they are permitted onto the market,” Senator Tambling said.

“The booklet – GM foods and the consumer -explains this process in plain English, including the steps taken by ANZFA to check that the genetic modification has not increased the toxicity or allergenicity of the food or changed its nutritional value.”

Senator Tambling said ANZFA has a role not only to assess the safety of GM and other foods, but also to ensure that special interest groups and consumers are aware of the integrity of the safety checks.

“I believe no other food agency in the world has been so transparent with its assessment process or as willing to have the basis of its decisions made available for public scrutiny and comment,” he said.

“Each safety assessment is made available to the public for detailed examination and comment before it is finalised.

“The booklet will be posted on the ANZFA website and could well prompt other countries to adopt the ANZFA safety assessment process for their own regulatory purposes in the GM food area.”

Senator Tambling said the cautious approach being adopted by ANZFA to the safety of GM foods was commendable, despite the conclusion of an OECD conference in Edinburgh earlier this year that there is no evidence of any adverse effects from eating GM food.

Not one of the 400 delegates from 40 countries at the conference – scientists, food regulators, consumer representatives, and opponents of GM technology - could provide credible evidence of harm to human health from GM foods.

However some improvements in the use of the technology were identified at the conference, including the phasing out of antibiotic resistance genes in GM food crops and ANZFA will be monitoring this development closely.

Further information and copies of the booklet are available from ANZFA or from the ANZFA website at www.foodstandards.gov.au.