1 Feb 2012

Anti-GE campaign stepped-up

2:59 pm on 1 February 2012

Anti-GE campaigners have increased their efforts to stop genetically engineered corn and soy entering the New Zealand food chain.

GE-Free New Zealand has applied to the Administrative Appeal Tribunal to overturn an approval by the Food Standards Authority of imports of corn and soy which have been modified to resist the effects of herbicide sprays.

The agency approved GE corn imports in 2007.

GE-Free president Claire Bleakley says the herbicides are toxic and were never meant for human consumption.

She says there's been a lack of risk assessment and research into the how genetically engineered corn affects the health of humans.

And she says the final straw was a refusal by the Ministerial Council to review the FSA's approval of GE corn and soy.