Genetic Modification, Royal Commission

JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader&emdash;Green) to the Minister for the Environment: Does he agree with his predecessor the Hon Marian Hobbs' response to the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification in which she said the Government accepted "the broad outline of the Royal Commission's strategy of preserving opportunities while proceeding with caution"?

Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister for the Environment) : Yes.

Jeanette Fitzsimons: Can the Minister confirm that after 7 long years the Government has implemented only 20 of the 49 recommendations of the commission, as revealed in a research report released today by the independent thinktank Sustainable Future?

Hon TREVOR MALLARD: I have received a copy of the report. I am advised that the report may be overly conservative in its assessment of how the Government has implemented the royal commission's recommendations. However, I have asked officials to provide me with a substantive briefing on it. I am also advised that the report may not fully reflect New Zealand's current regulatory environment. The regime for assessing applications for GM research in New Zealand is one of the toughest in the world, and this is probably reflected in the fact that no applications have been received for conditional or full release of GM organisms. In fact, a number of New Zealand researchers are doing that experimentation outside the country because of our tough regime.

Jill Pettis: Can the Minister advise the House what recommendations the Government has addressed?

Hon TREVOR MALLARD: I am advised that the Government has addressed the recommendations of the royal commission that it is possible to address at this time&emdash;for example, establishing a bioethics council, amending the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act to allow a conditional release, enhancing the role and processes of institutional biological safety committees, extending the ministerial call-in powers to include cultural, ethical, and spiritual considerations, developing a long-term biotechnology strategy for New Zealand, and the list goes on. There are, of course, recommendations that cannot be addressed at this point in time&emdash;for example, an application of conditional or full release of a GM organism would be required in order to initiate a number of the recommendations.

Jeanette Fitzsimons: Can the Minister confirm that all of the commission's recommendations, which were designed to preserve opportunities for non - GE growers to continue to produce what their markets demand, without being compromised by the release of GE organisms, are among the 29 that have not been implemented; if so, will he commit to doing something about it?

Hon TREVOR MALLARD: I will take the member's word, but I am not absolutely certain on the question of 29 recommendations. No, I am not prepared to do so. What would be required for some of those recommendations to be implemented would be a successful application. I am not prepared to initiate that sort of application, or to guarantee its success.

Jeanette Fitzsimons: In the event of a release, how are bee-keepers supposed to know where and when to locate their hives in order that their 10,000 tonnes of honey produced each year remain GE free, when there is no public information about where such crops might be grown, no systems to keep crops separate or to label anything, and great confusion over where liability will lie in the event of contamination; and is the Minister happy to see decimated this $58 million export industry, which is already threatened by the varroa bee mite and the biosecurity amendment legislation?

Hon TREVOR MALLARD: The answer to the last part of the question is no. As to what I am prepared to do with it, I am prepared to continue to work closely with my colleague the leader of the Greens in order to implement our cooperation agreement.