Posted on 7-8-2002

Powers Needed Over ERMA

Plea for NZ Minister to use "call in" powers for animal experiments with
human genes.

The Minister overseeing ERMA's application of the HSNO Act has been asked
to "call in" a proposal from AgResearch to produce GE cows incorporating
human, mice, deer, sheep and a range of genes from other
organisms. In a request from GE-Free NZ spokesperson Jon C arapiet,
Minister Marian Hobbs has been asked to use her call-in powers under the
HSNO Act (Section 68 (1) (e)) so that application GMD 02028 can be reviewed
by the newly-established Bio Ethics Council chaired by former Governor
General Sir Paul Reeves.

The request to call in the 10-year research project follows confirmation by
ERMA that it has no powers to stop the application being processed.
AgResearch's application is due to be heard next week and ERMA have stated
in their evaluation report (page 56): "The HSNO Act requires applications
to be processed when they are received, so it is not possible for the
application to be delayed until the Bio Ethics Council is established." The
decision effectively side-steps key recommendations by the Royal Commission
which are that
food animals should not be used in these sort of experiments when
alternatives can be considered, and
that community values should be considered by establishing a Bio Ethics
Council. "The only way to stop this process from completely excluding the
Bio Ethics Council is for AgResearch to agree to temporarily withdraw their
application while the ethical issues can be reviewed, or for the Minister
to use her powers to call it in," says Mr Carapiet. "Failure to call in GMD
02028 would explicitly exclude the new Bio Ethics Council from this
process. It will make a mockery of the government's claims to be following
the Royal Commission's guidance. It will show that the government's
underpinning philosophy is not caution but hypocrisy and " business as
usual" even for the most contentious experiments," says Mr Carapiet.

Protests from Maori and other sectors of society such as the Hindu
community living in New Zealand are likely if the project proceeds without
an ethical review. Any decision by ERMA could be open to challenge in the
courts given the many scientific uncertainties and inadequate containment
in open fields being proposed.