SAFE Rejects Royal Commission Report

SAFE Rejects Royal Commission Report - GE Is No Future For Animals

Tuesday 31 July 2001

SAFE (Save Animals From Exploitation) has rejected the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification's Report as a rubber stamp for further exploitation of animals by the GE industry and as a document that fails to consider the right of animals to be GE-free.

"SAFE is disappointed and outraged that the Royal Commission has chosen to ignore the rights of animals in all of it's recommendations. It offers animals no hope for a GE-free future. This report offers animals a future that is not worth living. It effectively places animals on the scrap heap of evolution," said Glen Real, SAFE's National Campaigner.

"The Royal Commission's Bioethics Council proposal, the only option for making ethical challenges on GE applications using animals, is an insulting token gesture and, if adopted, will prove to be an ineffectual and ignored advisory body. The remainder of the Royal Commission's recommendations only serve to further entrench the exploitation of animals by the GE industry," said Mr Real.

"SAFE participated in the Royal Commission in the hope that it would be a fair and unbiased investigation into GE. SAFE was concerned at the outset that the Commission had been hijacked by pro-GE lobbyists, this report proves we were correct. The Royal Commission report rides roughshod over of the opinions of the majority of New Zealanders, who argued for a GE-free New Zealand for themselves, the environment, and the animals of New Zealand." said Mr Real.

"It is vital that New Zealanders have a say on the GE issue and it is vital that the government listens. The world is watching - if we, as a nation, are serious about a GE-free future we need to tell the government to reject the Royal Commission's report and reject GE." said Mr Real.

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