13 March 2008

Proposed release of GE vaccine will be protested - Greens

News that there may soon be an application for the first live GE vaccine to be released in New Zealand will test the stringency of the law and its processes, the Green Party says

"It is worrying that the first off the blocks for release of GE may be a vaccine. These are often the most problematic of all organisms," GE Spokesperson Jeanette Fitzsimons says.

"These types of vaccines are normally a GE virus or a bacterium, they cannot be seen and are impossible to recall if they turn out to have dangerous effects.

"They also may be able to live outside their intended host, or in another host. There may be no way to know what other animals might be infected with this organism.

"There is no further information on which to base more detailed appraisal, but if this application is made in election year we can expect the government to come under considerable pressure. The opposition to the release of GE organisms into the environment has not gone away, it has simply gone quiet because there have been no applications.

The Green Party remains opposed to the release of any live GE organism and will make every effort to oppose any such application.

ENDS

© Scoop Media