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COMING READY OR NOT - GENE TECHNOLOGY AND FOOD
20 May 1999

Are Australian food producers ready to take advantage of the new biotechnologies?

Will consumers buy genetically modified foods?

Can our regulators avoid disasters of the British mad cow variety?

A meeting of the Academy's National Science and Industry Forum considered these questions, and many others. A report of the meeting was released today.

The report is a user-friendly summary of the presentations by experts from research, industry, government and consumer affairs. It also records discussion of the hot topics that were raised at the meeting.

In opening the meeting, the Academy's President, Professor Brian Anderson, noted that

'Gene technologies are some of the most powerful ever devised by humans. We are just beginning to see their potential.'

• 'How will the technology affect Australia's trade imbalance?
• Will the international industry structure be dominated by monopolies and oligopolies?
• How will entrepreneurial Australian companies compete?
• How should public sector research couple with the private sector?
• Do our regulatory authorities have the skills to handle crises without being over-cautious?'

The Head of the Innovation Division of the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources reported on progress made with regulating genetic engineering of our food sources to guard our food safety and our environment through the creation of a Gene Technology Office.

There was a report from the "Consensus Conference" organised by the Australian Consumers Association.

A CSIRO researcher presented the findings of a careful survey of public attitudes to genetically-altered food. Australians show up as more accepting than British people, and about the same as people in the USA.

The Chair of the National Science and Industry Forum, Dr Keith Boardman, summarised the meeting by noting

'We now have opportunities to change our food sources more rapidly than ever before.

'This is presenting us with challenges to our political, legal and educational systems that are just as new as the science.

'This report will provide more useful information for all of us who are taking part in public discussion of this important subject.'