Business chiefs support end to GM moratorium

By JIM EAGLES, business editor

The lifting of the GM moratorium today appears to have strong support from business leaders.

The Business Herald Business Leaders Survey - which goes to 50 senior executives - shows that an overwhelming majority feel the Government has got the policy on GM pretty right.

Of those who responded, 79 per cent agreed with the moratorium ending and 4 per cent were undecided. Just 17 per cent thought the decision was a mistake.

And 86 per cent of respondents - including some who opposed lifting the moratorium at this stage - felt the rules governing future use of GM were about right. A further 14 per cent considered the rules were too restrictive but no one thought they were too loose.

One chief executive supported a strict regime on the basis that "we don't know enough about the effects of GM. Therefore we should not allow any relaxation until we do".

In spite of the favourable verdict on lifting the moratorium, few thought it would have much commercial significance.

Asked to rate the impact of the GM regime on business - on a scale of 1 to 10, where 0 is highly negative, five is neutral and 10 extremely positive - the policy earned a mildly positive 5.3.

One chief executive in favour of lifting the moratorium noted that "there is no prospect of commercialised GM food products in the near future. The most impact of this decision will be a positive boost to the scientific research community".

And one opposed to lifting the moratorium said "there is likely to be limited commercial release in the short-term" so "why do it?"

Another said "there is considerable doubt as to whether the economic effects of lifting the moratorium - which in the short-term are likely to be minor - outweigh the economic benefits of the status quo".

And a third expressed concerns about a possible effect on trade, saying "it has the potential to adversely affect farming exports to Europe".

But the general view was that as a country whose economy depends on growing things, "we cannot afford to turn our backs on the potential benefits from GM research".