❓ WA Parliamentary Question on Notice regarding the Minister for Agriculture and Food's awareness and planned actions concerning a report on the trans-generational effects of GM corn consumption in mice. The Minister acknowledges awareness but cites concerns raised by the European Food Safety Authority regarding the report's data analysis.
AnsweredQoN 186Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) Is the Minister for Agriculture and Food aware of a report titled ‘Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603/MON810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice’, published 11 November 2008, by Dr. A Velimirov, Dr. C Binter and Dr. J Zentek, sometimes referred to as ‘The Austrian Study’?
(2) If no to (1), will the Minister seek advice on the report given its significance as a scientific work that details the trans-generational effect of animals eating GM corn?
(3) If the Minister is aware of the report, has the view been formed that the report does provide scientific data on the effect of trans-generational consumption of GM corn that was previously not available?
(4) Has the Minister formed the view, from the advice he has received on the report, that the report deals with ‘trans-generational’ effects of GM food consumption and, for that reason, addresses quite different issues than animal feeding trials that have previously measured ‘multi-generational’ effects of GM food consumption?
(5) Has the Minister formed a view, derived from the report, that its authors have demonstrated that in the trial they conducted the subject animals that consumed GM food had deleterious reproductive and health effects by comparison with control animals that had not consumed GM food?
(6) Has the Minister formed the view that the report demonstrates that animals fed with GM food during the trial, had, by comparison with control animals which were fed non-GM food, -
(a) fewer and smaller litters;
(b) reduced fertility over three to four generations; and
(c) greater pup mortality?
(7) Is the Minister aware that the report was commissioned by the Austrian Government as a result of that Government’s belief that there was insufficient scientific information available on the trans-generational reproductive effects of consumption of GM derived food?
(8) Does the Minister plan to take any action as a result of the matters disclosed in the report?
(9) If yes to (8), what action does he propose to take?
(2) If no to (1), will the Minister seek advice on the report given its significance as a scientific work that details the trans-generational effect of animals eating GM corn?
(3) If the Minister is aware of the report, has the view been formed that the report does provide scientific data on the effect of trans-generational consumption of GM corn that was previously not available?
(4) Has the Minister formed the view, from the advice he has received on the report, that the report deals with ‘trans-generational’ effects of GM food consumption and, for that reason, addresses quite different issues than animal feeding trials that have previously measured ‘multi-generational’ effects of GM food consumption?
(5) Has the Minister formed a view, derived from the report, that its authors have demonstrated that in the trial they conducted the subject animals that consumed GM food had deleterious reproductive and health effects by comparison with control animals that had not consumed GM food?
(6) Has the Minister formed the view that the report demonstrates that animals fed with GM food during the trial, had, by comparison with control animals which were fed non-GM food, -
(a) fewer and smaller litters;
(b) reduced fertility over three to four generations; and
(c) greater pup mortality?
(7) Is the Minister aware that the report was commissioned by the Austrian Government as a result of that Government’s belief that there was insufficient scientific information available on the trans-generational reproductive effects of consumption of GM derived food?
(8) Does the Minister plan to take any action as a result of the matters disclosed in the report?
(9) If yes to (8), what action does he propose to take?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
16 March 2009
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection representing the Minister for Agriculture and Food
Response time
104 days
(1) Yes.
(2) Not Applicable
(3-9) The European Commission sought scientific opinion on the report from the Genetically Modified Organisms Panel of the European Food Safety Authority. This GMO Panel provided final advice on 4 December 2008. The reproductive assessment by continuous breeding study is the study which I believe the Hon Kim Chance refers to as the "trans generational consumption of GM corn". The advice given was there were problems with the data analysis of the study. The scientific opinion is that the report failed to provide new information on the effect of a reproductive assessment.
No new actions are planned as a result of the report but scientific information on GM food safety will continue to be monitored as a matter of course. It is noted that Food Standards Australia and New Zealand have an in-depth discussion on this study on their website. The web-address is
www.foodstandards.gov.au
.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
(2) Not Applicable
(3-9) The European Commission sought scientific opinion on the report from the Genetically Modified Organisms Panel of the European Food Safety Authority. This GMO Panel provided final advice on 4 December 2008. The reproductive assessment by continuous breeding study is the study which I believe the Hon Kim Chance refers to as the "trans generational consumption of GM corn". The advice given was there were problems with the data analysis of the study. The scientific opinion is that the report failed to provide new information on the effect of a reproductive assessment.
No new actions are planned as a result of the report but scientific information on GM food safety will continue to be monitored as a matter of course. It is noted that Food Standards Australia and New Zealand have an in-depth discussion on this study on their website. The web-address is
www.foodstandards.gov.au
.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.