Life Sciences Network chair William Rolleston says a hearing panel’s decision not to include GMO regulations in the Waikato District Council’s new district plan was a watershed moment.
The Waikato District Council’s (WDC) new district plan will not include provisions around the development, release and use of genetically modified organisms, a hearing panel has found.
The panel determined it was unnecessary to provide GMO provisions in the plan because these provisions can be appropriately managed through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval process.
“It is clear to us that the matter is a polarising one, with one group of submitters generally seeking greater restrictions or prohibition on GMO and another group seeking to ensure the ongoing use and development of GMO, where appropriate,” the panel said.
The submitters were heard at a hearing at the council office in January 2020.
The panel said it accepted Life Sciences Network representative Mark Christensen’s submission that the development, release and use of GMO can be appropriately managed through the EPA approval process.
“We consider it unnecessary to replicate the EPA approval process in the PDP,” it said.
Life Sciences Network chair William Rolleston said the decision was a victory for science. The covid-19 pandemic had given the public a better understanding of how science worked, as well as the value of trusting science.
“The public and decision-makers are much more cognisant of science and also the dangers of false equivalence,” Rolleston said.
It was also the first time members of the science industry had put up a proper case to keep GMO regulations out of a local government plan.
While the decision will not create a precedent for similar cases within local government, the arguments put forward by the network did create a template for other hearings in the future.
“It’s the first real competition that’s been put up and it’s a watershed moment in terms of councils putting in place [GMO] rules that are unworkable and unusable in the future,” he said.
“It was fantastic that a number of organisations got together and presented a coordinated and rational approach and argument and I think that made a big difference.”
At the hearing, submitters, including GE Free New Zealand, argued for controls and the release of GMOs to be included in the plan.
These included adding a resource management framework for the management of GMOs that is specific to the Waikato district, taking into account environmental, economic and social wellbeing considerations
It also wanted strong precautionary and prohibitive policies and rules relating to the management of GMO that are same or similar to those in the Far North District Plan, Whangarei District Plan and Auckland Unitary Plan.
Representing the Whaingaroa Environmental Defence Incorporated Society (WED), Malibu Hamilton raised concerns of risk and liability, particularly concerning the removal and elimination of escaped GMO. He requested the panel insert strong precautionary and prohibitive GMO provisions in the plan.
In response, Christensen said the concerns raised by these submitters are generally the same concerns that were raised before the Royal Commission of inquiry that took place in 2001.
At the time, the commission and the Government were satisfied that appropriate decisions on the use and development of GMOs can be properly made by the EPA.
He submitted that having GMO provisions in the plan are unnecessary because it would duplicate the functions of the EPA and are inappropriate because it would act as a de facto ban on research and development of the technology across NZ.
Gavin Forest of Federated Farmers also spoke against the inclusion of GMO provisions in the plan. He said the regulation of GMO as sought by the submitters would undermine Waikato’s position as a leader in agricultural science, would erode scientific capability and would limit access to new technologies.
