Genetically modified (GM) canola: price penalties and contaminations

The genetically modified (GM) canola grown in Western Australia (WA) is glyphosate resistant. It has been grown in WA since 2010, when an exemption under the WA GM Moratorium was declared. The price penalty for GM canola (compared to non GM canola) is 7.2% based on the past five years of price data from two WA receival depots (Albany and Kwinana). The average annual price penalty for GM canola varied from a low of 5.3% ($29 per tonne in the 2017/18 season at Kwinana) to a high of 9.2% ($49 per tonne in the 2015/16 season at Albany). WA GM canola has a lower oil content (e.g. 46.9% versus 48.4%) and a higher moisture content (e.g. 5.5% versus 5.3%) than non GM canola. It is suggested that the price penalty for GM canola in WA would be greater if the segregation, phytosanitary and cleaning regimes were more stringent, rather than tolerating 0.9% contamination by GMOs for WA’s so called ‘non GM canola’. In the future, the price penalty for GMOs may be higher as consumers and purchasers become aware that what has been passed off as ‘canola’ is GM canola. The Canola Receival Standards make no mention that 0.9% contamination of non GM canola (CAN1) by GMOs is tolerated. As markets tighten up their tolerance of GM contamination, the risk is that WA’s so called ‘non GM canola’’ suffers market exclusions.