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· HIGH COURT RULING ON GMOs SHOWS THAT COUNCILS OF AUCKLAND/NORTHLAND PENINSULA HA
(Jun 16, 2009)
· High Court ruling gives nod to ARC’s cautious take on GMOs
(Jun 16, 2009)
· HIGH COURT GE DECISION A VICTORY FOR NEW ZEALANDERS
(Jun 07, 2009)
· GM animal applications invalid – High Court appeal upheld
(Jun 07, 2009)
· Federated Farmers of NZ praise GM free grass
(Jun 05, 2009)
· LOCAL AUTHORITIES CONSULT RATEPAYERS ON GMO LAND USE
(Apr 09, 2009)
· GMO Views To Be Aired
(Apr 07, 2009)
· Stop acting like Muppets and cancel all GE trials
(Mar 12, 2009)
· FAR NORTH DISTRICT COUNCIL JOINS OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN REGIONAL SURVEY REGA
(Oct 09, 2008)
· FAR NORTH DISTRICT COUNCIL JOINS OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN REGIONAL SURVEY REG
(Oct 09, 2008)
· Far North Joins Regional Survey on GMOs
(Oct 07, 2008)
· Mayor backs ban on GMOs
(Sep 14, 2008)
· Report exposes Government inaction over GE
(Apr 17, 2008)
· Restore Moratorium: GE FailuresThreaten National Interest
(Apr 17, 2008)
· Proposed release of GE vaccine will be protested - Greens
(Mar 13, 2008)
· Demise of GE Sapling Trees.
(Jan 18, 2008)
· Credibility of Food Safety Regulation takes a Significant Hit
(Dec 29, 2007)
· Pamela Peters
(Oct 10, 2007)
· Simon Bliss
(Oct 10, 2007)
· Jimmy Daisley
(Oct 10, 2007)
· Warren Slater
(Oct 07, 2007)
· Vince Cocurullo
(Oct 07, 2007)
· Don Hedges
(Oct 07, 2007)
· Simon Vallings
(Oct 07, 2007)
· Stan Semenoff
(Oct 07, 2007)
· GE onus belongs with polluters, central Government
(Jul 31, 2007)
· LOCAL AUTHORITIES EXPOSE FLAWS IN THE HSNO ACT WHICH MEANS THAT RESPONSIBILITY F
(Jul 25, 2007)
· Responsiblity for GE clean ups would land on local government and local land own
(Jul 24, 2007)
· Former Crop & Food Scientist says GE Brassica field test approval lacked scrutin
(Jun 02, 2007)
· GE Brassica Approval Lacks Common Sense - But Nice Job For Some
(Jun 01, 2007)
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http://straightfurrow.farmonline.co.nz/news/nationalrural/opinion/comment/high-court-gm-decision-pleasing/1551833.aspx
High court GM decision pleasing
STRAIGHT FURROW
by BRENT MORRISEY
26/06/2009 9:33:00 AM
TWO weeks ago, the High Court overturned the government’s Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) decision to accept four genetically modified organism applications. I was pleased.
ERMA was set up by the government to assess all genetically modified organism (GMO) applications. Their acceptance of four applications from AgResearch was taken to the High Court somewhat heroically by GE-Free New Zealand.
The High Court decision sent a very clear signal to the government that the very body it set up to rigorously evaluate GMO applications had not done its job. And if the High Court tells you this, it is a big deal.
GMOs promise many benefits. But like anything offering big benefits, it pays to look very carefully at what is being offered. This is where the ERMA, and effectively the government, has let us down. They did not look closely enough at these applications.
There are a host of reasons why we need to approach GMOs with care. There is a lack of long-term independent studies on public health, and there are animal welfare concerns. But in my role as an ARC councillor, these are not my specific concerns. I will outline why the ARC is cautious about GMOs.
First off, the ARC is the manager of air, land and water across the Auckland region, so anything affecting these is our responsibility. You can understand our concern when through its Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (1996) the government has failed to clarify who will be financially liable should contamination of non GE product occur in air, land or water.
It is also clearly in the ARC’s interest to make sure that ERMA is rigorously vetting applications because we need to have confidence in the measures to protect the region’s air, land and water.
Secondly, we have many submissions on GMOs from the public. It’s something that people are clearly thinking about and as their elected local representatives we’ll do all we can to represent their views.
So that is how I feel about it from a policy perspective, but I also want to look at it from a farming perspective. Combined, the ARC’s regional parks network is a big player in regional farming. We work hard to be good custodians of the land, and there have been some good things going on recently around best practice, and joint initiatives to get continuous environmental improvement, improvements to animal husbandry, and care of our waterways.
As farmers, the ARC does have the advantage of being able to think environmentally, but we are also in business, and we are thinking about the region’s economy. We are looking at the year on year, recession-bucking, international uptake of organics. Even when money is tight, more and more people are willing to pay for a product that is more expensive. We are also looking at the groundswell of demand for non GE product in the US as health concerns are voiced.
This tells us that there’s demand for a premium, clean, green and GM free product. Since we’ve got a head start on everyone else on this front, why waste our advantage? As the number of people able to pay for a premium product increases from China to the UK, let’s make our natural advantage our competitive advantage. Selling less premium product for a higher price is better for all of us.
The ARC’s cautious approach demands that good science, rigorous testing and serious thought be behind any decisions made on GMOs. Like us, I urge all farmers to get all the information on GMOs that you can, debate the issue, and tell us your thinking.
• Brent Morrissey is a councillor for Auckland Regional Council, in the Manukau constituency. He is deputy chair of the Transport and Urban Development Committee.
ENDS
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