Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Amendment Bill

1. Title

This Act may be cited as the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Amendment Act 2020.

2. Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day after receiving the Royal Assent.

3. Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to modify the definition of a ‘new organism’ to reflect scientific developments in gene editing techniques.

4. Principal Act amended

This Act amends the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (the principal Act).

5. Section 2A amended (Meaning of term new organism)

Within subsection (2)(b), insert a new subparagraph (iv) following (iii):

• (iv) any modification to the organism’s genetic elements could have occurred in the natural environment through mutation; or

Explanatory Note

General policy statement

This bill will exempt organisms which have been subject to minor gene editing techniques from being regulated as 'new organisms'. This will allow those organisms with mutations which could have occurred in the natural environment, through such means as exposure to solar radiation, the ability to be released for field use on equal terms to other members of the organism's species, cultivar, etc. When the HSNO Act was drafted there were no such technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 which now allow researchers to make small edits to existing genetic material; the regulatory set-up was made for transgenic genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This has unfortunately limited the ability of scientists to use precise gene editing techniques in research, which the government views as undesirable as it limits innovation and the social, environmental, and economic effects that these organisms can bring. Genuine GMOs will still be regulated under the HSNO Act to maintain the precautionary principle.

Section by section analysis

Section 1 is the Title section.

Section 2 is the Commencement section.

Section 3 is the Purpose section.

Section 4 identifies the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 as the principal Act.

Section 5 inserts a new grounds under which an organism developed through in vitro genetic techniques may not be regulated as a 'new organism' under the HSNO Act. Organisms subject to minor gene editing, rather than transgenic genetic modification, which could occur in the natural environment through exposure to sunlight or breeding will be treated on equal terms to other organisms which have had no gene editing whatsoever.

B.325 - Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Amendment Bill was authored by /u/SoSaturnistic (Labour) and is sponsored by the Minister for the Environment, /u/UncookedMeatloaf (Greens), on behalf of the government.

Debate will conclude at 6 PM, 21/09/2020.