Before the public consultations, the Federal Government had GE marked as only a minor issue for their expert panel to consider as part of this year's review of Australia's food labelling laws. The panel's consultation paper devoted just one line to GE.

By the time the public submissions had closed, the panel had received around 6,000 submissions and the majority were on GE. Add to this over 30,000 signatures from consumers and a GM-Free charter signed by 200 of Australia's leading chefs, and it would be fair to say that demand for GE labelling emerged as one of the major issues of the food labelling review.

The review's public consultation period closed last Friday, May 14. The review panel initially planned to report back with recommendations for government in October this year, but a looming federal election is likely to throw this timeline into disarray. Unless there is a big enough surge in public pressure to make food labelling an election issue, the review panel will put-off release of their recommendations until early 2011.

That said, the next 3 months will be a crucial time to influence the review's expert panel while they begin to draft their recommendations to government. Greenpeace will be working hard to keep GE labelling on the agenda, so keep your eyes peeled for future updates on this work and how you can get involved.

We'll also keep the petition open until the panel reports back and government makes their decision, so if you haven't visited the site, there's still time.