Soil & Health Association of New Zealand (Est. 1941)
Publishers of ORGANIC NZ
MEDIA
RELEASE For: Immediate Release
Date: 12-3-06
Soil & Health will be looking closely at New Zealand’s position during talks in Brazil, to see if New Zealand’s current
government is determined to pursue a GMO export drive, as part of NZ’s economic development.
The New Zealand position taken in Montreal last May against setting significant international agreement for strong
liability rules around GMOs, indicates that production of GE organisms in New Zealand labs for export is more important
than our clean green trading image, according to Soil & Health’s Steffan Browning.
Having GE research in the lab is one thing, but exporting living Genetically Modified Organisms and then dodging
liability against the unknown outcomes and risks of such products is quite different.
In May 2005 at the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety meeting in Montreal, New Zealand and Brazil were the only 2 of 119
countries present to object to labelling provisions, and New Zealand was the only country to block the liability regime
that it should have been supporting.
This weeks meeting of Protocol members in Brazil is an opportunity for New Zealand to correct its stance. Anything less
is an indication that New Zealand is committed to trading in Genetically Modified Organisms.
New Zealand’s trading future is better served by developing our reputation through improvements in sustainability and
value adding, through marketing ecologically friendly produced goods such as those certified organic.
Developing a range of marketable sustainable production strategies, that can be used throughout New Zealand primary
production, will not only ensure economic sustainability but also correct much of the soil and water degradation that
blights our environment.
New Zealand primary producers deserve support to get better farm gate prices and get out of the current commodity price
traps. Getting an international reputation of being pro GE is not going to help in the least.
New Zealand’s producers will have every justification to demand GE out of the labs too, if producers’ market reputation
is put at risk by a continued careless approach to labelling, liability and GE contamination by our negotiators
overseas, according to Soil & Health.
ENDS