OGTR Receives Application for Limited Release of High-Yielding GM Canola

The Department of Primary Industries Victoria (DPI Victoria) has submitted a license application to the Australian Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) for the intentional release into the environment of transgenic canola lines. The canola lines have been genetically modified for enhanced yield and delayed leaf senescence. They contain the isopentyl transferase (ipt) gene from the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens as well as the antibiotic resistance marker gene hph from E. coli. 　

If approved, the release will take place at two sites in the local government areas of Horsham and Southern Grampians, Victoria on a maximum area of 0.8 ha per year between May 2010 and May 2012. DPI Victoria has proposed a number of control measures to restrict the spread and persistence of the GM plants and their introduced genetic material, including: locating the trial sites at least 50 m away from natural waterways, surrounding the GM canola with a 15 m pollen trap of non-GM canola and a 50 m monitoring zone that is free of canola and related species, locating the trial sites at least 400 m away from any Brassica crop and destroying all GM plant material not required for testing or future trials.

The OGTR is preparing a Risk Assessment and Risk Management Plan (RARMP) for the proposed release. The office says it will release the RARMP on or before June 2010 for public comment.

Visit http://www.ogtr.gov.au/internet/ogtr/publishing.nsf/Content/dir103 for more information.