Keep GM tests in the lab, farmers warn

By ANNE BESTON environment reporter

The benefits of gene science are over-hyped and the rush to patent new technology is nothing more than bio-piracy, the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification has been told.

Organic farmers put their case to the commission in Wellington this week, asking that gene experiments be confined to the laboratory.

The organics industry believes the risk of contamination is too great to allow genetically modified organisms into the environment.

James Kebbell, managing director of retailer Commonsense Organics, said organic products would earn $500 million from exports in the next four years.

In 1991, New Zealand had fewer than 200 certified organic farmers; now it had more than 800, he said.

Mr Kebbell, a founder of the Organic Federation of New Zealand, told the commission that New Zealand's desire to experiment with genetic modification was "keeping up with the Joneses."

Crop experiments could destroy decades of work by organic farmers.

The Golden Bay Organic Employment and Education Trust said the biotechnology industry had misled regulatory bodies around the world, and unbiased and independent testing of GM products had not been done.

Golden Bay quoted a British study that found genetically engineered pollen could travel more than 5km.

Patenting medical and agricultural knowledge that resulted from gene experiments was bio-piracy and should not be allowed, the trust said.

The organics industry flew American Corn Growers' Foundation chief executive Gary Goldberg in for the hearings.

Mr Goldberg said the planting of GM "Starlink" corn had ruined export markets and tainted the crops of non-Starlink farmers.

The corn was never meant for human consumption, but had entered the food chain through cross-contamination.

Farmers faced a $US200 million ($470 million) bill to protect their crops from contamination by GM varieties.

The potential loss in corn exports from the US was in the billions of dollars, he said.

Genetically modified crops had also led to an over-production of corn, causing an estimated loss of between $US1 billion and $US1.5 billion.

Also before the commission was Bill Bracks, owner of Comvita, a company which produces natural therapies from honey and employs more than 60 people.

Bee products could be the most susceptible to contamination from genetically modified organisms, Mr Bracks said. Any release of GM crops would affect the company's ability to make GM-free guarantees.

He also poured scorn on big food manufacturers' claims that mandatory labelling of GM products, due to be introduced within the next year, would add between 14 and 15 per cent to the retail price.

"I would guess that to put on a GM warning, depending on the size of the label, would cost ... less than half a cent per product."

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