Councils protect their growers from GE

In the vacuum of inaction left by the National Government, local councils are having to lead the way in keeping New Zealand free of genetic engineering, the Green Party said today.

Hastings District Council have given official support to the GE free movement, voting unanimously in support of a proposal to declare the district GE free.

"This is an exciting move made by the Hastings District Council but they have been forced to take this action because the National Government is refusing to," said the Green Party GE spokesperson Steffan Browning.

"This region by region approach will be able to protect some growers but is not the real solution New Zealand needs.

"The growers in the Hawke's Bay have identified that they need to be able to reap the significant branding benefits of being able to market GE free food," said Mr Browning.

"These producers are receiving demand for GE free products and we need to be protecting their market for them.

"There are not sufficient liability protections for non GE growers should their produce get contaminated.

"Farmers in Australia are already experiencing loss of income due to contamination by GE crops.

"The National Government have shown that they do not value our 100% pure brand that so many of our growers are working hard to maintain.

"This leaves it to the responsibility of local councils in horticultural areas to protect the economic growth of New Zealand's exporting producers.

"The Government should be protecting all of New Zealand's primary production by declaring us to be a GE free country.

"Instead, the Government is busy bargaining away our ability to make these decisions for ourselves by taking a soft stance on it in international trade agreements.

"There are no commercial releases of GE at the moment in New Zealand and it is crucial that we protect our producers' market advantage by keeping it that way."