Deregulating gene editing technologies has wider consequences than the Government has considered, farmers and researchers say.
The contentious Gene Technology Bill is in its final week of receiving public submissions.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the bill would help the agriculture sector in his state of the nation speech.
“Enabling gene technology is about backing farmers, it's about embracing growth, and it's about saying yes instead of no.”
“I [want] New Zealand’s scientists working on high-yield crop variants, and solutions to agricultural emissions, that don’t drive farmers off their land and risk the very foundation of the New Zealand economy.”
He also announced the restructuring of the Crown research institutes and said they’d prioritise commercialisation.
“I want us to commercialise our brilliant ideas, so that our science system makes us all wealthier, because we are going for growth.”
Minister for Defence and Space Judith Collins broke news of the bill in August last year.
“New Zealand has lagged behind countries, including Australia, England, Canada and many European nations in allowing the use of this technology for the benefit of their people, and their economies.
She mentioned that New Zealand’s biotech sector - think plant modification, vaccine development and cell research - generated $2.7 billion in revenue in 2020.
“The changes [will] allow researchers and companies to further develop and commercialise their innovative products.
“It can also help our farmers and growers mitigate emissions and increase productivity.”
The government has pitched the bill as a long-needed overhaul of old rules, but researchers fear they’ve swung too far in the other direction.
University of Canterbury professor of genetics and biology Jack Heinemann is amongst the academics calling the bill “radical.”
In a submission to the Health Committee, he and other academics allege the bill will lower the burden on regulators but “substantially” risk the health of people and the environment.
“We would be outliers in the international scene.”
There are lots of different “tools” that can be used to alter the genes of plants, animals and bacteria - an example you might’ve heard of is CRISPR editing, where bad genes can be cut out of DNA and replaced with good ones.
Most countries have strict protocols around what tools they allow, and how they can be used, Heinemann said.
But this bill would “deregulate” the largest number of tools, and the precautions needed with them, of any country in the world.
“When tools and techniques become deregulated, there will be no record of what’s being made, what organisms are affected, or where the contamination could come from, making it impossible for our primary sector to be sure its products aren't contained with GMO [genetically modified organisms].”
Heinemann was an investigator in the Corngate scandal, so understands the importance of preserving New Zealand’s GMO-free image.
“Right now, trade is simple for New Zealand.
“We don’t have any authorised GMOs in the environment, so all primary producers… don’t have to prove they’re GMO free, and they’re known to be GMO free anywhere they’re sold.”
With the free reign experimentation the bill would allow, non-GMO farmers would be forced to either pay for routine testing, or label their produce as ‘potentially containing GMOs’ - even if they’ve done nothing to it.
“The cost falls on them to show they’re GMO-free.”
And he said the idea “that other countries won’t care, is wrong.”
“Europe and Brazil have ‘zero tolerance’ policies - if they detect or suspect an unauthorised GMO in a shipment, the whole shipment is condemned.”
As the director Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety, Heinemann submitted a proposal to parliament voicing his and his colleagues’ concerns about the bill.
Mt Somers farmer Duncan Humm said the bill is a “slap in the face - to farmers, agronomists and experts.”
“We’ve got to think of what New Zealand has achieved while other countries have gone down that [gene editing] road.
“We are the best of the best in a lot of areas, and we haven’t had to use that tech.”
The NZ Farming content curator said farmers cannot afford to experiment with their income and livelihood.
“There’s no hardcore evidence to suggest anything is practical or feasible with this technology.
“So it seems like one hell of a gamble on something that’s completely unproven.
“Agriculture in New Zealand is worth something like $56 billion in exports, so why would you gamble all of that on something that might not work?”
That’s not to say farmers don’t want change, Humm said.
“I know a lot of people who do all their own agronomy, and or doing a lot of innovative things, especially on the regenerative farming front.”
He felt those for the bill were in the minority, and generally had interests in the horticulture sector.
Submissions for and against the close on Monday 17, and Humm strongly encourages readers to write in to parliament.
“If you can make a submission, do.”
To add your voice to the conversation, search for the Gene Technology Bill on Parliament's website.
Submissions close at 11.59pm on Monday 17 February.
By Anisha Satya
Source: https://www.guardianonline.co.nz/news/gene-tech-bill-a-slap-in-the-face-to-farmers-experts/