. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/AUS/136
21 February 2002
(02-0886)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  AUSTRALIA
If applicable, name of local government involved:           
2. Agency responsible:  Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA)
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where
applicable).  Processed foods in general  Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the
extent relevant or practicable:  Imported (as well as domestically produced) foods sold in
Australia containing corn or canola.
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Application A388 – Oil from
bromoxynil-tolerant canola line Westsar-Ox y-235 (62 pages), and Application A380 – Food
from insect-protected and glufosinate am monium-tolerant DBT418 corn (76 pages)
5. Description of content:  ANZFA has received applications to amend the Australia New
Zealand Food Standards Code to approve the use of food products derived from the
following genetically modified commodities:
- bromoxynil-tolerant canola (Brassica napus) .  This canola is tolerant to applications
of the herbicide bromoxynil, and is known commercially as Navigator™ canola, and
- corn containing transformation event DBT418.  The corn has been genetically
modified to be protected from insect atta ck from the European corn borer (ECB) and
tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate ammonium.  The corn is commonly known as "DBT418
corn".
These reports describe the scientific assessment of the applications.
6. Objective and rationale: [  X ] food safety,  [     ] animal health,  [     ] plant protection,
[    ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [     ] protect territory from
other damage from pests
Foods produced using gene technology are required to undergo a pre-market assessment of
their safety, to ensure that they are as safe as their conventional counterparts.
All applications to change the Australia New Zealand  Food Standards Code , must be
assessed in the context of the following objectives: (a) the protection of public health andsafety; (b) the provision of adequate information relating to food to enable consumers to
make informed choices; and (c) the prevention of misleading or deceptive conduct.
If application A388 is approved the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code  will be
amended to permit foods derived from bromoxynil-tolerant canola (Brassica napus, known
commercially as Navigator™ canola.G/SPS/N/AUS/136
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7. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [  X ].
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:           
8. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Australian Food
Standards Code, New Zealand Food Regulations 1984  (both available in English),
Standard 1.5.2.
9. Proposed date of adoption:  Recommendation to Government anticipated to be made mid
2002, adoption to follow  pending Government approval.
10. Proposed date of entry into force:  Not known, date of entry after Government approval
(see 9. above).
11. Final date for comments:  20 April 2002
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [     ] National notification
authority, [    ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if
available) of other body:
12. Texts available from:  [     ] National notification authority, [     ] National enquiry point
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:
Documents are available from the Australia New Zealand Food Authority website
(www.anzfa.gov.au ).  Also available from:
Australia New Zealand Food Authority
PO Box 7186
Canberra BC   ACT   2610Australia
Fax: (+61) 2 6271 2278
E-mail: info@anzfa.gov.au