GE flock 'must be kept from food chain' says lobby group

An anti-genetic engineering (GE) group today raised fears that sheep inserted with human genes by a troubled Scottish company could enter the New Zealand food chain.

PPL Therapeutics, which in 1996 helped to clone Dolly the sheep, announced on Friday it was laying off up to 90 percent of its staff at its Scottish headquarters and 170ha Whakamaru research farm, 37km southwest of Tokoroa.

GE Free NZ also had concerns that incinerating the sheep, as required when the project was approved, could spread waste material, he said.

There had been incidences of GE sheep entering the food chain overseas by accident.

Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) chief executive Baz Walker said there were strict controls on the trial, which ensured that no transgenic material left the trial site.

If animals were killed, it would be done on site, he said.

- NZPA