Government and Greens must come clean on GM corn

"The Government and the Greens must not hide the truth on the GM corn issue, says National's Biosecurity spokesman, Dr Paul Hutchison.

"It is essential they spell out the facts on food safety, particularly since mainstream peer-reviewed scientific literature has shown no adverse effects from GM food anywhere in the world.

"Secondly, the public must be properly informed. The last GM corn scare left people in the dark because the Government was unclear that New Zealand law required zero tolerance for GM seeds and it didn't move to change the law.

"Realistically, it's almost impossible to test seeds with 100 per cent confidence to rule out a GM content and the Government should have moved quickly to change the law to reflect this problem of foolproof testing," says Dr Hutchison.

"Neither the Prime Minister, Marian Hobbs nor Pete Hodgson have been clear on the issue. They must be this time.

"Similarly, the Greens must not be allowed to raise unnecessary alarm and confusion over GM corn," Dr Hutchison says.

"Their demands are already inconsistent - on the one hand, they call for our laws to guarantee zero tolerance for GM foods - which have no proven harm - yet on the other hand they protest loudly when Customs calls for zero tolerance on the importation of hemp containing tetrahydrocannabinol (cannabis).

"It's high time the Government explained to everyone the realities of the GM corn issue - after all, the $6 million Royal Commission on GM spelt out that the reality is, 'it is impractical for New Zealand to be GM free'. What's needed is a law change," says Dr Hutchison.

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