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2 - CONTEXT

Agriculture, horticulture and forestry make a significant contribution to New Zealand's economy, environment and society, including to Maori development

(relevant to issue k of the Warrant)

  1. New Zealand's gross domestic product for the year ended March 2000 was estimated to be $104 billion. Of this, the land-based sectors together with first-stage processing contributed 15 percent. This compares with a 14 percent contribution from finance, insurance, business services and real estate, and a 13 percent contribution from wholesale and retail trade. In the medium term, MAF expects that the proportion of the land-based sectors' contribution to GDP will rise through improved productivity and competitiveness.
  2. Almost 60 percent of New Zealand's total land area is occupied by farm land or plantation forest. Therefore it is essential to consider the role of agriculture and forestry in any issue that affects New Zealand's physical environment.
  3. An estimated 115,000 people are employed on farms, with another 100,000 people directly employed in servicing agriculture, either at the input stage or in processing agricultural products. An estimated 9000 people are directly employed in forestry and logging. The processing of forestry products through sawmills, panel products plants, and pulp and paper manufacture employs another 16,000 people. Overall, the agriculture and forestry sectors together with first-stage processing employ about 240,000 persons or 13 percent of the estimated total labour force. Given the nature of these industries, those employed have a wide range of skill levels, and many of them work and live outside the main urban areas.
  4. Maori-owned agriculture, horticulture and forestry assets are estimated to be the second-largest group of Maori-owned assets1. These land-based assets make a large contribution to Maori economic, social and cultural welfare. The 1996 census showed that 12,798 Maori were employed in agriculture, horticulture and services to agriculture, making up 9.4 percent of the workforce in this sector. A further 7,545 Maori were employed in forestry and related industries, comprising 22.6 percent of the forestry sector workforce2.
  1. Agriculture and forestry generate more export receipts than any other sector of the economy - $15.6 billion or 63 percent of New Zealand's total merchandise exports in the year to June 2000. Pastoral-based exports made up $10.4 billion (42 percent). Meat, wool and meat by-products were valued at $4.34 billion with dairy products (excluding casein) worth $3.97 billion. Forestry products were valued at $3.11 billion or 13 percent of total exports for the year to June 2000.
  2. Currently, all of New Zealand's agricultural, horticultural and forestry output is non-GM. Certified organic exports earned more than $60 million in 1999-2000 (roughly 0.5 percent of agriculture-based export revenue). This value is expected to rise in the immediate future3.
  3. New Zealand has a history of outstanding scientific research that has underpinned our success in agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Innovation is essential for maintaining our competitive advantage in these industries. New Zealand's scientists and research institutes have an excellent international reputation, backed up by an impressive record in developing new products and bringing them to the market.
  4. Consumer acceptance of new food technologies can be slow and take decades. The pasteurisation of milk was strongly opposed when introduced but is now recognised as an important safety measure in many countries. Margarine is an example of a novel food that took many years to be widely accepted by consumers in the US.

Genetically modified crops have been rapidly adopted by farmers in some overseas countries but genetic modification is mainly used as a research tool in New Zealand

International developments in commercial releases of GM organisms

(relevant to issues h, k, l of the Warrant)

  1. China was the first country to commercially grow GM crops in the early 1990s and GM foods have been available to consumers in the USA since 1994. However, widespread commercial plantings of GM soybean and corn commodity crops first occurred in the USA in 1996. In 1999, close to 40 million hectares (an area approximately 1.5 times the size of New Zealand) of GM crops were grown in 12 countries. Most of this area was in the USA (72 percent), Argentina (17 percent) and Canada (10 percent), with minor plantings (<0.1 million ha) in China, Australia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, France, Portugal, Romania and the Ukraine4. The crops planted include soybean, corn, cotton, canola, potato, squash and papaya that have mostly been genetically modified for herbicide tolerance or insect resistance. These modifications aim to reduce production costs for farmers and provide alternative production methods that may have less adverse effects on the environment.
  2. GM crops have been adopted by US farmers at very high rates, claimed by some to be the highest rate for any new technology adopted by agricultural industry standards5. US farmers are this year expected to plant 54 percent of soybeans, 25 percent of corn, and 61 percent of cotton with GM varieties6. Only the acreage for corn is estimated to be less than in 1999 (down 12 percent) with increases expected for soybeans (up 7 percent) and cotton (up 13 percent).
  3. MAF is not aware of any commercial releases of GM animals or commercial plantings of GM trees in overseas
    countries. However, the World Wide Fund for Nature has reported more than 100 field trials of GM trees involving 24 species in 17 countries7. There is ongoing research using animals that have been genetically modified to alter their growth characteristics or produce novel products (e.g. pharmaceuticals in their milk).
  4. While the first generation of GM crops has been largely targeted at altering agricultural production, the second generation of GM crops nearing commercialisation overseas comprise crops offering benefits to consumers (e.g. high stearate soybean oil). Further away from commercialisation, but already under research and development, is a third generation of crops containing traits not seen before in primary production. For instance the production of chemical reagents and plastics in plants to replace less sustainable systems.

Genetic modification research in New Zealand's primary industries

(relevant to issue a of the Warrant)

  1. The most significant use of genetic modification in New Zealand's agriculture, horticulture and forestry industries is as a research tool for understanding how plants, trees and animals grow. It is now a routine part of many biological research programmes. Genetic modification is also being used to breed new varieties of plants and animals to alter the production or quality of food, crops and fibre, and to develop new products such as animal vaccines.
  2. New Zealand has invested heavily in GM research since the 1980s. Part of this funding (MAF estimates it to be more than $100 million) has come from government, initially through MAF and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and subsequently through the Public Good Science Fund since 1992.
  3. Contained field trials of GM organisms began in New Zealand in 1988 with plantings of asparagus and potato plants modified with marker genes. Since then there have been more than 50 approvals for contained field trials of GM organisms. The organisms have included pasture plants (clover), fruit (apple, kiwifruit and tamarillo), vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, potato), field and grain crops (barley, canola, forage brassica, maize, peas, sugar beet), ornamental crops (Lisianthus, Petunia), animals (goats, sheep, cattle), trees (Pinus radiata) and microorganisms (bacteria). The traits added to crop plants include virus resistance, insect resistance, herbicide tolerance, altered post-harvest quality, flavour enhancement and altered flower colour. Animals (e.g. sheep) have been modified to alter growth characteristics and to produce pharmaceuticals in milk, bacteria have been modified to develop new vaccines (e.g. for hydatids), and forest trees (Pinus radiata) have been modified with marker genes. Applications for field trials are publicly notified.
  4. There have been no applications or approvals to release any GM organisms into the environment in New Zealand.

1 Rose et al., The nature and extent of the Maori economic base, Business and Economic Research Ltd, 1997
2 Te Puni Kokiri, Maori in the New Zealand Economy, 1999
3 Organic Products Exporters Group, OPEG member survey 1999-2000, August 2000
4 James C, Preview: Global review of commercialised transgenic crops: 1999, ISAAA Brief No. 12, 1999
5 James C, Preview: Global review of commercialised transgenic crops: 1999, ISAAA Brief No. 12, 1999
6 US Department of Agriculture, June 2000
7 Oswusu R A, GM technology in the forest sector: A scoping study for WWF, 1999

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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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