[pf] Royal Commission on Genetic Modification; 'scoping' meetings start.

· Dialogue starts. Later, the Commissioners listen to arguments, then (next
year) decide what New Zealand will do. Pretty close, anyway: the Government
would have to pass laws, etc. (To get some idea of scale: that 100
mentioned is in relation to our last election where 2,085,704 voted, 83% of
those eligible.)  D.

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Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 15:19:51 +1200
From: Jonathan Hill <jonathan.hill@parliament.govt.nz>
To: GreenNews-NZ List
Subject: [GN]First Royal Commission Meeting Canvasses Health Issues


Royal Commission on Genetic Modification Meeting, Canvasses Health Issues.
  (NZ Press Assoc.)

Wellington, Mon, Aug 7 - More than 100 participants in the first public
meetings of the world's first Royal Commission on Genetic Modification
today threw up a huge range of questions they said the commission should
consider when its formal hearings start next month.
The public at today's ``scoping'' hearings in Wellington were split into
discussion groups to report back to the four commissioners on the questions
which should be canvassed.
In a busy morning session, centred on the day's theme of crops and foods,
the groups discussed human health issues, consumer choice and labelling
questions and cultural and spiritual matters.

This afternoon, they were due to discuss environmental and economic
questions, along with future uses of genetic engineering (GE) in one
session, and ethic, global developments and strategic opportunities in
another. 

Repeated themes raised during the morning include the need for greater
education or informing of the public on GE issues.
Discussions included questions about increased risk of diseases crossing
species, and a perceived need for longer-term and independent testing of
products, with longterm testing of product safety.
Some participants questioned what effects GE crops and food could have
through changes to human nutrition.
Groups discussing cultural and spiritual issues as they related to human
health, posed questions about the implications gene engineering held for
Maori concerns for protection of the life force and genealogy of individual
species.
But splits were seen, in disagreement on the extent to which different
groups would vary in their views on the essential life force of an
organism, and the extent to which technology-driven change should over-ride
the views of minorities in society.
Questions were also raised about ethical issues, and whether gene
engineering could be used to protect native flora and fauna. Intellectual
property rights over genetic codes, and who should be able to control them
were raised.
The meeting was divided roughly between green groups and other lobbyists
and individuals opposed to some uses of genetic engineering, and people
associated with gene science companies and other parts of the biotechnology
sector.

Under the topic of consumer choice and labelling, some participants
questioned consumer perceptions of risk, and said a key issue should be
education about risk and about the processes of genetic engineering. 
They also questioned whether labelling should deal with the final product
alone, or with the ingredients and process along the way.Costs of labelling
and whether consumers should have to pay were also raised.

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sent to Positive Futures by David.
(David MacClement) davd@ihug.co.nz 
http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/index.html
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