Australia to limited and controlled release of some GM narrow-leafed lupin

Australia’s gene technology regulatory system is designed to protect the health and safety of people and the environment by identifying risks posed by, or as a result of, gene technology and managing those risks.

The Gene Technology Regulator is currently assessing Licence Application DIR 119 from the University of Western Australia for a limited and controlled release of up to 20 lines of narrow-leafed lupin that have been genetically modified for herbicide tolerance.

The primary purpose of the two year field trial is to determine what level of glyphosate the GM narrow-leafed lupin plants can tolerate under field conditions. The trial is proposed to take place at the New Genes for New Environments facility located in Merredin, Western Australia, on a maximum area of 0.5 hectares per growing season between May 2013 and April 2015. The GM lupin would not be permitted in human food or animal feed.

A consultation Risk Assessment and Risk Management Plan (RARMP) has been prepared, which concludes that the proposed release would pose negligible risk to human health and safety or to the environment. A range of draft licence conditions would limit the size, location and duration of the release, as well as restrict the spread and persistence of the GMOs and the introduced genetic material.

The Regulator welcomes written submissions in order to finalise the RARMP, which will then form the basis of a decision on whether or not to issue the licence.