Bid to field test GE onions

3.00pm

Crop And Food Research have lodged an application to field test genetically engineered (GE) onions.

The application was the first for field tests of a GE plant since a Forest Research Institute bid to field test GE trees three years ago, the Environmental Risk Management Agency (Erma) said today.

The current moratorium on GE organisms applies to releases only, not field trials, Erma said in a statement.

"The application seeks to undertake contained field trials of onions that have been genetically modified with a standard herbicide resistance gene that confers tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate."

The proposed trial would be on Crop and Food research land around Lincoln in Canterbury.

Public submissions on the trial close on August 20.

Green MP Sue Kedgley said today the application should be put on hold until "the serious problems at Erma are rectified and it is in a fit state to properly consider GE applications".

"The highly damning independent review of Erma released last week showed that the authority is in a parlous state, with poor oversight of conditions placed on GE approvals, poor accountability and skewed weighing of evidence."

Ms Kedgley said in a statement she was concerned to learn that most of the containment provisions in the onion application were in confidential appendices.

"It looks like the GE onions are just going to be growing in an ordinary field, without any special barriers. There will be some security measures but these are also confidential. "

She said GE onions didn't pose the same risks to the environment as growing GE corn or canola, as onions didn't flower in the first year.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry carried out tests this week after a Gisborne sweetcorn crop was found to be contaminated with GE material.

- NZPA