An Australian legislator has suggested a moratorium on the sale and distribution of genetically engineered corn or Bt corn in the country, as the hunger strike by anti-GMO (genetically modified organism) activists at the Department of Agriculture entered its third week.

Senator Bob Brown of the Australian Greens party has written Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo expressing "grave concern" about the Philippine government's approval of the sale of Monsanto's Yieldgard Bt Corn, a genetically modified variety that produces its own pesticide against corn borers.

Brown urged Lorenzo to place an immediate moratorium on the use and distribution of GMO foods in the country.

Brown cited the experience of the Australian state of Tazmania, which imposed a five-year moratorium on the introduction of all GMO foods due to "impacts such genetically engineered crops would have on Tazmania's reputation in the global export market."

The hunger strikers, led by Obet Versola of the Philippine Greens, welcomed Brown's proposal.

Versola said such a moratorium could always be reversed, although the hunger strikers are demanding the total ban of GMO crops in the country.

Versola and three other environmentalists vowed to continue their hunger strike until Lorenzo reverses the government approval on the commercial use of Bt corn in the country.

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