Greens Senator Janice Rice's disallowance motion - in response to the government's amendment to the Gene Technology bill, did not receive enough support on Wednesday.

The failure of the motion disappointed some Maitland people who had been trying to push for the government's lack of regulation to be overturned.

"The view of organic farmers, agricultural producers and exporters and shoppers has been ignored," Slow Food Hunter Valley's Amorelle Dempster said.

"I'm disappointed that the federal government and the Labor Party did not support it."

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Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon had previously confirmed the Labor Party was not worried about the regulatory changes and would not support the motion.

The federal government made the changes to the bill earlier in the year and they passed through the Senate and became law in early October.

Senator Rice, the Greens spokeswoman for Agriculture, acknowledged the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator had assessed the issue on a 'scientific and health basis' but overlooked the impact on farmers.

"The changes to the Gene Technology Regulations that we are seeking to disallow have made Australia the first country in the world to deregulate gene edited animals. This one move has the potential to kill our organic farming industry and massively hamper our traditional agriculture export industry too," she said.

Ms Dempster said groups like Slow Food had tried their best to tell shoppers about the changes. She said most were unaware of the changes and what it meant for their food choices.

"They have responded and have been writing to their local MPs and to the ministers, but it has all happened after the federal government had already made the decision," she said.