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Cabinet Policy Committee
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POL Min (03) 8/6 Copy No: |
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This document contains information for the New Zealand Cabinet. It must be treated in confidence and handled in accordance with any security classification, or other endorsement. The information can only be released, including under the Official Information Act 1982, by persons with the appropriate authority. |
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Government Response to the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification: Report on Managing the Effects of GM Organisms and Co-existence in Primary Production: Paper 1: Overview
On 9 April 2003 the Cabinet Policy Committee:
- noted that different non-genetic modification (GM) production systems have been successfully working alongside each other in New Zealand and overseas for many years, but that some problems do arise;
- noted that organic products are generally certified on the basis of how they are produced, and not on the characteristics of the products themselves;
- noted that most countries growing GM crops also have expanding areas of organic production;
- noted that the main problem encountered with achieving effective coexistence of GM and non-GM production systems overseas relates to the unintended presence (either illegal or unwanted) of GM material in products that are supposed to be non-GM;
- noted that New Zealand has a comprehensive and integrated regulatory framework for managing risks to the environment and people from GM organisms and GM foods, and for addressing marketing claims;
- noted that the government’s decision to amend the HSNO Act to include a new conditional release category will allow the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) to impose controls where appropriate on released GM organisms to manage any identified risks, and that compliance with any controls will be further strengthened with the new statutory civil liability rule and civil penalties;
- noted that the government has also decided to add additional mechanisms (powers to make regulations for conditionally released organisms, explicit provision for adding or removing new organisms from the prohibited organism list) to the HSNO Act which will allow the government to establish further measures to achieve effective coexistence if there were a need to do so;
- noted that there are indications that there would be only a few applications to ERMA to release GM crops in the short to medium term, and these will likely be mostly for agronomic or environmental evaluation;
- noted that there would be different approaches to achieving effective coexistence for different GM organisms ranging from vaccines to animals to plants;
- noted that individual producers will be able to produce to standards of their choice, additional to any controls imposed by ERMA, as their specific markets demand;
- agreed that the government’s working assumption is that effective coexistence of GM and non-GM production can be achieved in New Zealand by proceeding carefully and rigorously examining each use of a GM organism on a case-by-case basis within the context of New Zealand’s comprehensive regulatory framework;
- directed officials led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to continue to monitor international developments in achieving the effective coexistence of GM and non-GM production systems, assess their implications for New Zealand, and report back by 31 October 2004 on any issues needing further government decisions;
- noted that the Minister indicates that consultation is not required with government caucuses or other parliamentary parties.
Sue Sharp
Secretary Reference: POL (03) 82
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Present: |
Officials present from: |
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Rt Hon Helen Clark (Chair) |
Office of the Prime Minister |
Copies to: (see over)
Copies to:
- Cabinet Policy Committee
- Chief Executive, DPMC
- Mary Anne Thompson, DPMC
- Secretary to the Treasury
- Chief Executive, Ministry of Economic Development
- Secretary for Justice
- Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Director-General of Health
- Director-General of Agriculture and Forestry [Agriculture]
- State Services Commissioner
- Chief Executive, Ministry of Research, Science and Technology
- Chief Executive, Te Puni Kokiri
- Minister for the Environment
- Secretary for the Environment
- Minister of Conservation
- Director-General of Conservation
- Minister of Consumer Affairs
- Head, Ministry of Consumer Affairs
Contact for Enquiries
Dr Sharon Adamson
Manager,
Innovation Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 4 894 0618
Fax: +64 4 4 894 0741
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