Approval for GM Cows Pushes Rules To Breaking Point.
17 March 2010

The Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) has again stretched its statutory responsibility by approving a further two and a half years of experiments on GM cows. ERMA quietly made the approval under rules for ‘minor and technical amendments’ that do not allow any public or independent scientific comment.

“ERMA decision to roll over such experiments only shows that their decision making abilities are flawed in light of the serious conflict of interest between the decision-makers and the applicant,” said Claire Bleakley president of GE Free NZ in food and environment.

“This roll over should have never been allowed given that after ten years there is still no data on the risks that these experiments pose to the environment and communities. The most certaint outcome based on publicly available data is that breeding of new GE animals will lead to further animal suffering and risk to the environment.”

It is clear that important lessons have not been learned from the only other comparable GM animal trial in New Zealand which resulted in failure and bankruptcy because of adverse effects from the GE-derived product in clinical trials.The site of the 3000-strong animal experiment at Whakamaru has been left to sit, with ERMA and MAF failing to conduct a single test on the environmental or other effects of contamination.

The ERMA approval process is a case of commercial interests being allowed to trump sound science in a way which is unethical and fundamentally damaging to New Zealand's brand reputation. It is high time to prove the existance of, and make public any scientific data that validate the long-claimed benefits of these experiments, or legitimate ERMA's decision making in regard to much-ignored environmental risks.
ENDS

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