April 27, 2000 / Nature, 404, 914 - 915 / PETER POCKLEY
SYDNEY -- New Zealand's new Labour-led coalition government has, according
to this story, set up a royal commission into the implications of modifying
gene with the primary purpose to reconcile a bitter debate within the
country over GM crops, but it is also expected to have international
implications.
The story notes that the government has imposed a 'voluntary moratorium' on
applications to release and field-test genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
until the commission reports, and a total ban on releases "involving
reproductive material." The status of the inquiry is believed to give the
four-member panel an independence and power to call and cross-examine
witnesses not enjoyed by inquiries into transgenic organisms in other
countries.
The story says that Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, who retired as the country's
Chief Justice last May, will chair the commission. He expects the
proceedings to be a mix of testimony given under oath -- with legal
representation -- and less formal discussion, adding, "Our conclusions
will never be the definitive word."
Although its remit is to report on strategic options and to recommend
changes to legislative, regulatory, policy or institutional arrangements in
New Zealand -- whose economy is dependent on agriculture -- the inquiry
will be international in scope.
Doug Parr, Greenpeace's chief scientific adviser in Britain, was cited as
saying that his organization is willing to participate, adding, "No country
has the monopoly of expertise in this issue." Multinational biotechnology
companies are also expected to take part.
Marian Hobbs, New Zealand's environment minister was quoted as saying, "All
sides are welcome and we are providing resources from a budget of NZ$4.8
million (US$2.5 million) to enable submissions from overseas, in
person or by video link" and that the style of the inquiry will "help to
dispel distrust by sharing one vocabulary".
The story adds that Hobbs announced the inquiry in a week when two breaches
of the regulations on GMOs were revealed. One was by a laboratory at the
University of Otago's Medical School in Christchurch, where researchers
allegedly extracted tissue from the lizard-like tuatara and were
constructing a DNA library, without full permission from the regulatory
authority or local Maori people, for whom the animal has spiritual
significance.
The chair of the university's biological safety committee, George Petersen
(who is also acting president of the Royal Society of New Zealand) himself
was cited as raising the alarm, declaring "sadness for the whole scientific
community."
But Petersen believes that "by publicly confessing before the regulators or
the media uncovered it, we earned good points for owning up."
The commission's other members are Jean Fleming, a researcher at the
University of Otago in molecular reproduction and endocrinology; Richard
Randerson, an Anglican priest with a strong record in social
issues; and Jacqueline Allan, a medical practitioner of Maori descent.
The opposition National Party has attacked the lack of any panel members
with industrial experience.
The story also says that university scientists appear reconciled to the ban
on GMO release, as they have escaped the restrictions on laboratory work
sought by the Green Party. Researchers can still argue for exemptions for
non-commercial work, such as the control of possums. But Greenpeace and
other activists have described the moratorium as contradictory and voiced
concerns over "the risk of irreversibility".
Ian Warrington, spokesman and head of HortResearch was quoted as saying that
the restrictions "will cause the termination of some research."
Michael Dunbier, chief of the Crop and Food Research Institute, was cited
as saying the ban could cause scientists to leave New Zealand.
(posted without permission)
