GE onion field trial news held over to stem backlash, claims group

By AUDREY YOUNG


The pre-Christmas timing of the official announcement approving a field trial of genetically modified onions was designed to limit response, says a group planning a training camp on how to pull out such crops.

The approval was discovered on Friday, when it was apparently posted by mistake on the website of the regulatory body, the Environmental Risk Management Authority.

It was quickly removed and is thought to be scheduled for an announcement tomorrow, four days after the premature disclosure and two days before Christmas.

The approval is thought to give the Crown institute Crop and Food Research permission to plant the Roundup-resistant crop for 10 years on condition that the plants are destroyed before they flower and that they not be eaten.

Applications for such field trials were not affected by the moratorium on the commercial release of GE crops.

But its hearings became a focal point for anti-GM campaigners because they took place shortly after the moratorium ended in October and 1900 submissions were received.

A spokeswoman for the newly formed Peoples Moratorium Enforcement Agency, Lenka Rochford, said yesterday that the announcement was held over deliberately.

But it would also be a good focus for the training camp in Motueka early next month. "We are not bringing a whole lot of people together in Motueka to plan to rip up the onions. That wouldn't be safe, legally.

"But definitely we will be training people to pull up crops, among other things, and the fact that the onions have been approved is good timing."

Asked if you needed much training to pull up onions, Lenka Rochford said no, "but when there are cross-pollination and contamination issues.

"We are against genetic engineering because it is not safe for the environment.

"To send a bunch of people who don't know what they are doing tramping through contained crops, we could do a lot more damage.

"So it's making sure people [pull out onions] safely."