Green Party reaction to the terms of reference
17 April 2000
Green Party reaction to the terms of
reference
Scope:
The scope of the commission is broad
enough to cover the ethical, safety and spiritual questions
raised by genetic engineering, in line with the Green
Party’s suggested guidelines. The Green Party successfully
asked for wording in the terms of reference to be clarified
so that genetically engineered food was specifically
included in the commission’s scope.
Size:
A four member
commission is a compromise between the Green Party’s
proposed five member commission, and a mooted three member
commission (as suggested by Environment Minister Marian
Hobbs in response to written question 2702 lodged on 15
February by Paul Hutchison). The Greens are happy that the
commission will have expertise in law, ethics, genetic
science, medicine and Maori cultural values. The glaring
omission is ecology, and it’s very important that a suitably
qualified ecologist be employed in the
secretariat.
Personnel:
We are very pleased that, to
our knowledge, none of the members has taken a strong public
position either for or against the technology in the
past.
Timeframe:
The Greens are doubtful that the
commission can hear all those who wish to be heard and fully
consider their arguments in a year. We originally proposed
two.
Budget
The Greens believe the budget will be
adequate to allow the commission to bring people from
overseas to give evidence if appropriate and hire suitable
staff.
Moratorium:
The Green Party has repeatedly
called for an immediate moratorium on
applications for
new field trials and on the release of genetically modified
organisms into the environment. We welcome the moratorium on
the release of
genetically modified organisms, but note
that the negotiations for a moratorium have not yet begun
and it will not be in place for more than three months. We
hope this will not lead to a spate of applications now.
We are unhappy that new applications for outdoor genetically engineered field trials will still be approved, albeit with stricter controls.The Greens will continue to push hard for a halt on new field trial applications until the commission has reported back; including submitting Jeanette Fitzsimons’ genetic engineering moratorium bill in upcoming members’ ballots and calling on CRI’s to voluntarily put all new field trial applications on hold.
Jeanette Fitzsimons MP: 04 470 6661 or 025 586
068
Gina Dempster, Press secretary: 04 470 6723 or 021
1265
289