Augusta Margaret River Shire councillors will vote on whether or not to allow GM crops to be grown in the district on Thursday evening.

Vanya Cullen, of Cullen Wines, has recently returned from Britain, where she says Australia is losing its clean green edge, making it more difficult to sell wine in an increasingly discerning market.

The UK is Australia’s largest wine export market.

“There has been significant negative press about Australia being an industrialised wine producing country in the UK, Australia’s largest export market,” Ms Cullen said.

“Having GM crops does not help this image; it would be in our interests to keep Margaret River as a GM-free wine producing region.”

GM yeast is being used to control the wine making process and GM grape varieties are being developed to combat disease and pests and improve colour and ripening.

Ms Cullen said recent European surveys found the majority of respondents were either apprehensive or opposed to GM.

She is also concerned the local environment will be affected if GM crops or products are introduced.

“There is a risk of uncontrollable spread throughout the environment, resulting modification of indigenous flora, and the damage will be irreversible,” Ms Cullen said.

“Using GM grape varieties, yeasts and bacteria could also damage the unique varietal styles and vineyard characters that are only just being understood.

“There could also be unexpected effects on a vine’s defence capacity and the colour, taste and texture of a wine.”

Meanwhile, the UK’s major supermarkets chains have responded to consumer concern by excluding GM ingredients from their house brands and have taken steps to give customers the option to avoid meat and dairy produced with GM feed.

Australia’s second largest supermarket chain Coles has also moved to avoid GM ingredients in their home brand products.

“Coles developed its current range of house brands to exclude genetically modified ingredients after we recognised our customers’ concerns about the technology and its use in the food they purchase from us,” Coles quality manager Jackie Healing said.

In another anti-GM move, several food and wine professionals met on Friday to propose the formation of Slow Food Margaret River (a branch of the international organisation started in Italy and which now has some 100,000 members worldwide).

One of the local group's stated aims is to oppose genetic modifiecation in foods and in our agriculture, in keeping with th e organisation’s international mandate.