That puts greater pressure on New Zealand authorities to do the same, given the shared trans-Tasman food processing plants and regulations.
Approval was granted in April by the Australian federal government for researchers to use GE Crispr technology on any species other than humans.
Monash University biotechnology law expert Karinne Ludlow said any approval to allow the GE technology to be used in food products will swing on the outcome of a Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) review now under way. It is scheduled for completion at the end of this year.
She distinguished GE technology from the older genetic modification (GM) science so often at the centre of earlier debates.
“There will be a decision one way or another from that.
“But for NZ to produce such food you still have the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms regulations in place.”
The Royal Society has called for an overhaul of the HSNO Act, stating the regulations are based on older, transgenic type GM technology and fail to account for the new GE technology.
Ludlow said recent research on Australians’ perceptions of and attitudes to GE technology provided some surprising results.
“The government-sponsored survey conducted in 2017 on GE found about a third of people supported its use in food products, a third were not sure and a quarter were against it.”
However, when the nature of new GE technology was explained acceptance jumped to 42%.
“It is the transgenic type technology people do not feel comfortable with.
“People can, however, accept the new technology that only makes small changes to a species’ genes.”
In the United States non-browning mushrooms are the first food products created using new GE technology.
In NZ the possibility of low-lactose milk suitable for consumers with lactose intolerance has been proposed if approval to use GE is granted.
Ludlow believes growing understanding of health and sustainability benefits derived from GE technology will grow public acceptance of it further.
Meantime, the benefits of Australian states declaring themselves GE Free are being debunked and reversed.
ABC Rural News reported South Australia is seeking to lift its 16-year moratorium on mainland GM crops.
An independent review estimated the cost to the state of the moratorium for canola alone was about $33 million since 2004.
For years growers have maintained the moratorium has offered little in way of trade and marketing benefits and removed farmers’ opportunities to use GM technology proven to be safe and effective.
Western Australia has also opted to not compensate non-GM growers growing crops in proximity of GM crops.
Tasmania is the only state to continue with a GM ban one type of Crispr technique is now allowed.
