Australian agricultural news from FWi, Monday, 3 December, 2001. 

For today's latest UK and international news, visit FWi at http://www.fwi.co.uk

 Prove you're GM-free, Australian farmers told

 By Boyd Champness

 GLOBAL food-processing giant Unilever has told Australian farmers they
must provide proof that their crops are free of genetic modification if they want to
continue supplying to the company.

 Unilever heads a number of major food processors who are insisting that
farmers, trucking firms and even seed suppliers establish vast paper
trials to identify and prove ingredients derived from oilseeds, pulses
and, in the near future, even potatoes are not genetically modified.

 Farmers who want to supply foods free of genetic modification will have
to create a special system to document and prove their crops are not
tainted with manipulated genes.

 The Weekly Times newspaper reported last week that the Australian arm
of Unilever has already demanded that its suppliers prove and track grains and other
produce from the seed source to silo, mill or crusher, in a bid to
maintain consumer confidence that its products are not made from GM
crops.

 The newspaper reported that Unilever, Goodman Fielder and other
processors have spent months screening ingredients to ensure they are GM-free, in preparation for the introduction  of new national labelling regulations that come
into force on Friday (7 December).

 The new regulations require all foods containing more than 1% of
genetically modified material to be labelled accordingly.

 The local grains industry is rushing to develop identity preservation
(IP) systems to segregate conventional crops from GM varieties to ensure they meet
processors' demands.

 Unilever has made it clear that farmers wanting to supply to the
company will need to embrace IP systems.

 "If we can't get IP, then we replace the product with a flavor or
something else," a Unilever spokeswoman told The Weekly Times.

 Many farmers argue that the move is premature considering that an
insect-resistant cottonseed is the only GM crop approved for commercial operation in
Australia to date.

 But processors argue that other GM crops will be released commercially
in Australia within the next two seasons and want the systems in place
now.

 The other major concern for farmers is who will pick up the bill for
identity preservation.

 The Weekly Times reported that the Australian Gene Technology Grains
Working Group is trying to determine how much effort should be put into
developing IP systems, given the lack of premium in the market for
non-GM products.

 Working group consultant Peter Flottman told the newspaper there was a
genuine concern that the lack of any premium for non-GM products in export markets
meant there was little  incentive for growers to take on on-farm
identity preservation, especially if GM crops proved to be significantly
more productive than conventional cultivars, as they have been in North
America.