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| GE Free
New Zealand in Food & Environment, 18th April
2005
EU Bans Bt10 Corn: NZ Authorities Urged to Take Action
Food Authorities in NZ and Australia must take action over illegal
imports of unauthorised Bt 10 corn after the EU banned imports of
products likely to contain it.
The untested and unapproved Bt 10 corn has been sold by mistake
for the last four years by Syngenta. The US government has fined
the company and the EU has now banned imports of the product, but
food authorities in New Zealand have been dismissive of the problem
and have refused to answer serious questions about the incident.
GE Free NZ in food and environment believes the official response
here is wholly inadequate and shows an astonishing disregard for
encouraging compliance with rules aimed at protecting public health.
"It is outrageous that the Food Safety Authority is refusing
to be open about the situation here. They are saying they believe
there is only a small problem but not answering the bigger questions,"
says Jon Carapiet from GE Free NZ in food and environment.
"What will stop this from happening in the future and what
action will they take on Bt 10 now the EU has banned it?"
GE Free NZ in food and environment is calling on New Zealand authorities
to urgently overhaul the current system and to impose a fine on
the offending company as the US government has just done.
Ends.
Contact Jon Carapiet 0210 507 681
References
EU nations agree to ban suspect U.S. corn gluten imports
Associated Press, April 15, 2005
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3136046
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