BIOTECHNOLOGY REGULATORY NEWS - PROPOSED NEW GENE TECHNOLOGY REGULATORY REGIME

The Australian Federal government has proposed a new regime for the regulation of gene technology in Australia in a package of three complementary pieces of legislation. The most important of these pieces of legislation is the Gene Technology Bill 2000 ("the Bill"). The Gene Technology (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2000 and the Gene Technology (Licence Charges) Bill 2000 are designed to assist in implementing the reforms proposed by the Bill. Following a public consultation process, the Bill was passed by the House of Representatives on 30 August 2000, and has been introduced into the Senate. The Federal government aims to have the new regulatory regime for gene technology operational by 3 January 2001 to replace the existing regulatory regime overseen by the Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee ("GMAC")