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| GE Free
New Zealand in Food & Environment, 23rd November
2005
ERMA Faces Protest over GE Cows Approval
Protest at ERMA's decision to allow development of GE cows in deliberate
contradiction of the Royal Commission on GM will be on the agenda today
when ERMA meets with community groups in Auckland.
The RCGM 2001 made a key recommendation 7.5 ( p. 355 of vol. I RCGM report)"that, wherever possible, non-food animals, or animals less likely to find
their way into the food chain, be used as bioreactors rather than animals
that are a common source of food."
The recent decision by a sub-committee of ERMA to to clear the way for
AgResearch to import GM embryos aimed at producing lactoferrin in milk
allows work to take place that goes directly against this key finding of the
Royal Commission aimed at building consensus on appropriate use of GE
technology.
The GE lactoferrin project differs in important ways from other experiments
that have been allowed because :
1) It has no claims to being of medical significance
2) It uses animals as bioreactors in a way that directly goes against uses
the Royal Commission said were acceptable to New Zealanders
3) It is a precursor to manufacturing a product that will directly compete
with a readily-available product sold by New Zealand farmers today
4) Has virtually no new benefits in terms of scientific learning because the
novel genetic material is being imported and already well-understood
traditional husbandry techniques will be used in development.
5) It will produce a product that is totally untested for its safety for
infants with whom it may be used, and for which ethical ways of safety
pre-testing are problematic
"There is particular concern that new ERMA CEO Rob Forlong was personally
involved in the three-person panel that made a decision so fundamentally
against the Royal Commission's findings," says Jon Carapiet from GE Free NZ
in food and environment.
The decision raises doubts about the ethical basis for ERMA's processes and
the issue will be one of the major concerns to be raised at this evening's
Community and Environmental Group (CEG) meeting at the Carlton Hotel in
Auckland.
ENDS
Jon Carapiet 0210 507 681
Reference
ERMA/ COMMUNITY/ ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP AGENDA
Wednesday 23 November 2005 at 5.00pm 7.00pm Tui II Suite, Carlton
Hotel Corner Mayoral Drive and Vincent Street Auckland
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