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Gene Technology Committees

Overview of the relationship structure between the Gene Technology Advisory Committees

Gene Technology Advisory Committees

Call for nominations for the Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee and the Gene Technology Ethics and Community Consultative Committee - Nominations close on 31 May 2010 - posted 23 April 2010

The Gene Technology Act 2000 (the Act) establishes two advisory committees to provide advice to the Gene Technology Regulator (the Regulator) and the Gene Technology Ministerial Council (GTMC):

The Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee (GTTAC) - provides expert scientific and technical advice
The Gene Technology Ethics and Community Consultative Committee (GTECCC) - provides advice on ethical issues and on matters of general concern to the community in relation to genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

Committee Relationship Structure

The Figure below outlines the relationships between the new committees, the Regulator and the Gene Technology Ministerial Council (GTMC) and links to their corresponding pages (from the orange boxes).

diagram showing the relationship between the committees, with links

Under the Act:

The GTMC, which is established by the intergovernmental Gene Technology Agreement 2001 (GTA), comprises Ministers from the Commonwealth and each State and Territory. The GTMC provides broad oversight of the regulatory framework and guidance on matters of policy that underpin the legislation. High level support is provided to the GTMC by the Gene Technology Standing Committee, which comprises senior officials from all jurisdictions.
The Regulator is required to consider policy principles and guidelines issued by the GTMC when making a decision on whether or not to issue a licence. It is one of the functions of the Regulator to provide advice to the GTMC.
The Regulator must prepare a Risk Assessment and Risk Management Plan (RARMP) as part of the assessment of each licence application to deal with GMOs.
GTTAC provides advice to the Regulator on RARMPs. GTTAC also provides advice on request from the GTMC. Under the Act, GTTAC must include a person who is a member of GTECCC.
GTECCC provides advice on request to the Regulator and the GTMC on ethical issues and on matters of general concern to the community in relation to GMOs. GTECCC must also include a person who is a member of GTTAC and a person who is a member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee.

Creation of GTECCC

GTECCC was established as a result of amendments to the Act, which commenced on 1 January 2008. It replaced the former Gene Technology Community Consultative Committee (GTCCC) and the Gene Technology Ethics Committee (GTEC).

Following the Statutory Review of the Gene Technology Act 2000 and the Gene Technology Agreement 2001 (the Review) in 2005, it was found that there had been considerable overlap between the roles of GTCCC and GTEC. The Review recommended the two committees be combined into one advisory committee - GTECCC. The recommendation was incorporated into the Gene Technology Amendment Bill 2007, which was passed on 20 June 2007. The second triennium for GTCCC and GTEC expired on 30 June and 8 December 2007, respectively.
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