Parliamentary Select Committee closes door on submitters

Submitters to the Food Bill (SOP 278) were advised by a parliamentary clerk, one day before the hearings on the 18th of February 2014, that their request to speak to their submissions, addressing the Parliamentary Select Committee were denied.

They were told this was based on the sheer volume of submitters wishing to speak
over the two-day period.

They were told their concerns were analyzed and sorted in groups, allowing others with similar concerns to speak on their behalf. This affected some 50 submitters who had indicated they wished to exercise their democratic right to speak to their submissions.

They covered a wide range of issues from the Treaty of Waitangi, food safety, poverty, individual and community garden sharing, school and community group fundraising permits, milk production and sale, natural supplements, small business interests and commercial food producers' concerns, regulations, legal fees & restrictions, GMO's, including obligations under the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child.

Submitters were told; "Departmental officials were asked by the committee to consider their views when identifying policy issues for consideration following enactment of the bill".

The volume of public response to problems in this bill needs to be heard and addressed.

The Food Bill is due to be brought before Parliament in May 2014.

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