Co-leader of the Green Party Jeanette Fitzsimons has welcomed the offer from the LifeSciences Network today to extend the voluntary moratorium on applications to release genetically engineered organisms.

"The industry has seen sense in offering to extend this moratorium on applications for commercial release and field trials of genetically engineered organisms until the Government has made a decision about where we go now," she said.

"A flood of applications before this decision has been made would be unfair not only to the public but also to the individual scientists involved.

Ms Fitzsimons said an extension to the moratorium would take some of the steam out of the pressure cooker, and give the Government a breathing space to consider the full report from the Royal Commission.

"However two months will not answer the kind of questions raised by the Commission about the effects of genetically engineered organisms on soil and ecosystems.

"A two month extension to the moratorium is only a start. Given the gaps in the current state of knowledge about this technology, it will take many more years of research to fill in the gaps identified by the Commission."

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