Grim Reaper Stalks NZ Embassy in London to Protest Govt Stand on Terminator

London-23 March 2006--The Grim Reaper appeared in front of the New Zealand Embassy in London this morning, with a banner protesting the NZ Government's refusal to oppose Terminator technology.

The protestors held a banner in front of the embassy reading "NZ: ban GE Terminator seeds now" and distributed hundreds of leaflets to passers-by in the London rush hour.

The protestors are part of a world wide network of concerned citizens who care about the 1.4 billion people across the world who depend on farm-saved seed for survival. Terminator, sterile seed technology, would put an end to this practice and make farmers buy their seed every year from seed companies.

New Zealand, along with only Canada and Australia, is supporting the lifting of a defacto ban agreed by Governments in 2000 which stopped farm trials of terminator technology because of the threat this technology poses. It is facing the wrath of the developing world on this issue as the Convention on Biological Diversity talks continue in Brazil. 300 environmental and farmers groups from across the world have signed an international petition to ban Terminator.

New Zealand is arguing that Terminator ought to be considered on a "case by case" basis but this approach is being slammed as the thing which could undermine - and eventually eliminate - the defacto ban.

"New Zealand advertises itself as 100% pure but that's clearly a complete sham. It's a case of "I'm alright jack" where so-called clean, green New Zealand doesn't seem to care about what it unleashes on the rest of the world. This is a clear case of double standards and New Zealand completely ignoring its international development obligations," said one of the protestors, Graham Thompson.

"We call on New Zealand to do the right environmental thing and oppose Terminator technology in any form, including its so-called case-by-case basis."

ENDS

© Scoop Media