Govt RMA proposal 'sneaky'

Marchers against GMO outside the Northland Regional Council building on Water Street in Whangarei in June this year. Photo / File

A Government move to tweak the Resource Management Act to introduce national commercial forest standards is a sneaky way to override Northland's GMO bans, opponents say.

The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) wants a National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forests (NES-PF) for a consistent approach, and "remove unwarranted variations" in district plans.

In effect, that would override Northland councils' rules forbidding genetically modified organism (GMO) plant stock in the region. All councils north of the Bombay Hills have precautionary or prohibitive GMO policies.

Whangarei Labour Electorate Committee (LEC) spokeswoman Jenny Kirk said, "This move is seriously sneaky as it overrides local government authority, and the wishes of local people to live and work in a GE-free district, and gives people very little time to object to this proposal." Submissions on the NES-PF need to be made by 5pm on August 11.

The LEC has organised a public meeting about the issue, at Forum North, 5.30pm today, Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis will be one of the speakers.

The NES-PF proposes that GMO tree stock can be used for new plantings if approval has been given by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

An MPI spokesman said the intention was to avoid "unnecessary" duplication in the management of environmental risks under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act and the RMA.

"The inclusion of the draft provision within the NES-PF relating to the use of GM tree stock is wholly consistent with the recent [Environmental Court] judgment that GMOs can be managed under the RMA."