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The probable planting of up to 40ha with a batch of genetically modified sweetcorn has angered the Green Party, which says the incident shows a lax attitude to keeping GM seeds out of New Zealand.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry yesterday revealed that its quarantine service had inadvertently cleared a shipment of 1800kg of sweetcorn seeds from the United States.
The seeds were accompanied by a certificate that showed they had tested negative for genetically modified seeds but additional, overlooked, documentation showed there in fact were GM seeds in the shipment.
"The combination of these results suggests that any GM that may have entered New Zealand is present at extremely low levels," a ministry spokesman said. MAF was now checking where the seeds were sent and whether any had been planted.
Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said there was no excuse for the shipment slipping over the border. "This is an indication that too many people in MAF still don't take the issue seriously. There needs to be a major shake-up among the people who constitute our first line of defence."
New Zealand imports about 750 million conventional maize seeds annually. One inadvertent import of GM seed sparked the "Corngate" political row during the 2002 election. There have been incidents involving GM since.
- NZPA, additional reporting by Mike Houlahan
