Dow's 'Stacked' Chemical-Resistant Soy Coming to NZ

The Health Of New Zealanders Is once again under threat from Dow Chemicals, operating as Dow Agrosciences.

In a new application to Food Standards Australia NZ, Dow will introduce GE soy 'stacked' to survive spraying with three different toxic chemicals, including 2,4-D.

On 31st May FSANZ released its Administrative Assessment Report on Application A1073, which starts the clock on yet another rubber-stamping process that will follow the previous modus operandi of the trans-Tasman Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Authority.

FSANZ is supposed to protect public health, but like its equivalent agency in the US, appears to be hijacked by the chemical industry, to the point where a new GE patented food, containing three toxic chemicals is considered a reasonable proposition to add to consumers' food baskets.

This application follows hot on the heels of two recent approvals for GE crops containing 2,4-D to enter the food chain, though 2,4-D had been previously considered too toxic for use in food. The earlier decisions to approve 2,4-D soy and maize have been challenged through the Australian Appeals Tribunal but organisations in New Zealand have no jurisdiction to have their concerns heard. This leaves New Zealand in limbo with no ability to challenge what has become a scientifically corrupt process of approval.

In effect the Minister is above the law and beyond the scrutiny of the courts, having been able to sign-off on the previous application without any safety testing or safety data.

“Monsanto has said it is the responsibility of regulatory agencies to conduct and develop safety tests, not industry whose job it is to innovate new products. However the food authorities argue that they have no funding to carry out 'expensive' testing,” says Claire Bleakley, president of GE-Free NZ in food and environment.

"They simply go ahead anyway.The latest application is a frightening example of the chemical industry collaborating on the use of a toxic cocktail of herbicides to poison the food chain. Further, why have tests been developed for animals yet they are not available for humans? The public interest is now being habitually betrayed by FSANZ, which has approved scores of GE foods, and continues to take no heed of the evidence that increasing toxic loads for human beings is harmful."

"The public can have no confidence in the Minister or the advice given by FSANZ to justify the ratcheting-up of chemical exposure through food,"
says Jon Carapiet, spokesman for GE-Free NZ.

"Food derived from such products will inevitably receive approval, as every previous application has, making a mockery of the regulatory process. The deal with companies like Dow Agrichemicals, Bayer Crop Science, and Monsanto is a good as done."

Dow are living up to their corporate history in New Zealand rather than seeking to address previous harm it has brought. Its latest food innovation will leave more than just a sour taste as a highly visible but morally corrupt sponsor of the London Olympics.

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