Councils seek to control GE releases

4.00pm

North Island councils are seeking a say in the extent to which land should be used for genetically engineered crops and animals.

Whangarei District Council today called for changes to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act that would give councils have more say on the release of GE organisms in their areas.

And the Bay of Plenty regional council says it wants to know what powers it has to control the release of GE in its own region.

The council fears government legislation does not provide adequate safeguards and that regional government might be left without a say.

In March, Whangarei council, in association with Far North, Kaipara, and Rodney district Councils and Local Government New Zealand, received a legal opinion from a leading QC, Royden Somerville, for territorial councils and the Environment Court to block the farming of GE crops or animals, or declare specific areas as zones for GE farming.

This view was disputed by Environment Minister Marian Hobbs, who said councils would find it difficult to identify issues that would not be adequately and most appropriately addressed by the HSNO Act and Erma.

Today, Whangarei District Council sought support for changes to to New Zealand's law governing the release of genetically engineered crops and livestock.

Under the Act as it now stands the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) must notify councils of applications for activities involving GE organisms.

But councils' submissions on such applications are not given any greater weight than individuals' submissions.

The Whangarei council wants that rule changed and will ask Local Government New Zealand to lobby for the Act to be revised.

And Bay of Plenty's regional council -- one of 14 authorities separate to the "territorial councils" which control land use in cities and districts -- wants to know what powers it has to control the release of genetically engineered organisms in the region.

It fears government legislation does not provide adequate safeguards and that regional government might be left without a say.

Resource planner James Low said that the regional council was adopting the "precautionary principle" it already followed under the Resource Management Act: that governments should err on the

side of caution if they have doubts about the health and environmental safety of an action.

Mr Low said the Bay of Plenty council was concerned only with the release of GE organisms, including field trials.

Councillor Lorraine Brill, chairman of the BOP council's strategic policy committee, said there were a lot of issues unresolved, including the liability risk and the role of local government in fixing any problems that arose.

The Bay Of Plenty council is asking other regional councils to help fund the legal opinion.

And in Whangarei, district councillor Robin Lieffering was today seeking seek support for a law change from the 11 "Zone 1" councils stretching from Papakura to the Far North.

Mrs Lieffering said a law change was needed to get councils "into the playing field" of GE organisms.

The council had prepared a draft remit, which if it gains Zone 1 support, will be presented to the annual Local Government New Zealand meeting in July.

A discussion document with the remit said that because of the risks involved in a GE release, "local authorities may wish to consider whether the expected protections to be afforded by the national regulator, Erma, will be sufficient to meet the requirements of their communities at a regional or local level."

The HSNO Act should be changed to enable councils "to have direct input" into decisions over GE land uses that may take place in their region or district.

The draft remit also suggests that Erma should accommodate councils' policies on GE when making their decisions. Another possible change would give councils the opportunity, but not the obligation, to examine individual applications "in tandem" with Erma.

The existing law is unsatisfactory to local government because of the potential adverse effects regionally and locally resulting from land used for GE crops and animals, and because of the strong community opposition for GE land uses in some regions, the remit said.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA), NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)