History of Failures Warrants Local Say on GMOs
Evidence of regulatory failures by authorities was centre stage at the hearings for The Whangarei and Far North District
Councils to finalise plan changes on genetically modified organisms (GMO’s).
Three commissioners on the panel heard evidence from the Whangarei District Council, Soil and Health, and GE Free
Northland and other submitters supporting a local tier of controls on GE field experiments and commercial release.
These plan changes are being opposed by Federated Farmers of New Zealand and The Ministry for the Environment (MfE). Ms.
Guthrie, MfE’s policy team leader said that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) view is that the only body to
regulate GMOs is the EPA, stating that industry must be able to agree to any proposals. She said that persons suffering
harm as a result of GMO approvals could sue under common law if they were harmed by GE material.
“The Ministry has disregarded the community concerns on this issue. A majority of people want their councils to be able
to impose precautionary rules on GMO’s in their region,” said Jon Carapiet spokesperson for GE Free NZ.
The presentation by GE Free NZ included expert evidence of the potential threat to native bees and their habitat from
GMO's. Native insects are major pollinators of indigenous plants and a more minor but very important pollinators of
exotic ones.
The history of previous breaches at GE trial sites was also highlighted as well as the related cost to the New Zealand
taxpayer for clean up. Examples include GE trees by Scion, and the withdrawal of industry investment for GE Animal
trials at Ruakura which left AgResearch in the lurch [1]. Also cited was the failed GE sheep trial by overseas company
PPL Therapeutics which went bankrupt and left the New Zealand taxpayer to cover the costs of shutting down the site at
Whakamaru. That site contains the ashes of three thousand GE sheep, yet there is no monitoring of contamination and no
oversight by either the EPA or the local council.
“Whakamaru is a forgotten contaminated site that should be considered a biosecurity risk but the EPA has washed its
hands of it. Worse is that the Minister for the Environment is refusing to allow local councils to put precautions
around this type of activity,” said Claire Bleakley, president of GE-Free NZ.
Local councils must be able to protect their communities from environmental damage and regulatory failure. GE Free fully
supports the policies and objectives put in place in the plans and opposes moves by the Minister and commercial
interests to block local communities from determining their future.
References:
[1] Far North District Council & Whangarei District Council Proposed District Plan change-Genetically Modified Organisms
http://www.gefree.org.nz/ge-free-court-council-submissions/
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