Posted on 10-7-2002
Labour Suppress GM liabilty Report

The Governments decision to suppress a new report on liabilty for GE damage
and ignore Official Information Act requests for its release are
anti-democratic and will undermine open public debate about the issue.
GE-free New Zealand (in food and environment) are very concerned that the
government is avoiding public discussion of one of the key issues of the
election: who pays when things go wrong with a GE organism. A spokesperson
Jon Carapiet says a request for the Crown Law Office report has been
stalled, and believes the delay may be politically- motivated by a desire
to avoid difficult questions during the election debate.

Science and Technology Minister Pete Hodgson says the report - given to
Attorney General Margaret Wilson some weeks ago- is flawed, and is refusing
to allow public access to it. "The question for government policy on
Liability is : Who are the real experts at risk-management- ERMA or the
Insurance industry professionals? The taxpayer could be forced to subsidise
private biotechnology businesses because insurance companies are refusing
cover," said Mr. Carapiet. "Taking out commercial insurance is a normal
practice for most businesses. It is moderating influence which in the case
of a powerful and potentially dangerous technology like GE is even more
important."

New Zealand's clean and natural marketing image is estimated to be worth
billions of dollars each year in exports and tourism. If GE releases are
allowed to proceed and damage our economy - who will pay up? There are
already many examples where control of GM products has gone terribly wrong
or where insurance companies have warned about the financial risks. "In
the US Starlink corn- only approved for animal use - accidentally
contaminated human food and cost a billion dollars to recall. In the UK
there are reports of land values for sale of farmland used for GM trials
being impacted , and NFU Insurance specifically refuses to cover farmers
for GM damage. In Canada conventional farmers and the Honey industry have
been hit by GE contamination losing them overseas markets," said Mr Carapiet.

GE-Free New Zealand (in food and environment) are calling on the Minister
to release the report - however flawed he believes it to be- in the
interest of democratic debate.