Frustrated at the Government's refusal to reveal the contents of the controversial spray BTK Foray 48B, Green Bio-security Spokesperson Ian Ewen-Street today tabled his own ingredients list in Parliament.

Mr Ewen-Street said the residents of West Auckland had the right to know what was in the spray they were being bombarded with from the air, as part of the Government's battle against the painted apple moth. The right of the public to protect their health should take precedence over a company's rights to protect its intellectual property, he said.

The Green MP tabled his ingredients list in Parliament after being challenged to do so by Associate Bio-security Minister Marian Hobbs.

The list tabled outlined the ingredients contained in the Canadian version of the spray, which included about 40 chemicals. The Canadian version went by the same name as the New Zealand version, BtK Foray 48B. Mr Ewen-Street said he could not categorically state the two sprays were identical, but the use of the same name indicated the ingredients were more than likely the same.

The list of Canadian ingredients had been prepared by independent analysts. The list showed the spray was not organic, and the Government must stop trying to placate concerned residents by saying it was, Mr Ewen-Street said.

"There are about 40 chemicals in Foray 48B. Some of these make the mixture form globules of the right size, to enable it to fall at the right rate and attach to tree leaves.

"While the active agent is an organic bacillus, Foray 48B is brewed in a nutrient soup containing wheat, soy and cornflour - which may possibly have been genetically engineered."

Mr Ewen-Street said one of his main concerns about the Government's refusal to divulge the spray's ingredients was that residents could not tell their doctors what to look for when doing sensitivity or allergy tests.

One of Ms Hobbs' answer to his parliamentary questions on the subject today was that as far as the Government knew the spray was GE-free.

ENDS

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