Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Adams dismisses official GM-free zone

By Simon Hendery
Hawkes Bay Today·
19 Aug, 2014 09:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Grower John Bostock makes his point to Environment Minister Amy Adams at a meeting in Clive. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND

Grower John Bostock makes his point to Environment Minister Amy Adams at a meeting in Clive. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND

Environment Minister Amy Adams has told Hawke's Bay growers they already have the ability to market their produce as free of genetically modified organisms and she doesn't support a law change to make the region an official GM-free zone.

Local growers lobby group Pure Hawke's Bay challenged Ms Adams on the issue when she visited the region yesterday. They took the opportunity to question her at a public meeting in Clive after placing a full-page advertisement in yesterday's Hawke's Bay Today.

The ad, in the form of an open letter to the minister, said being able to market the $1 billion of annual produce as GM-free was an "essential component of our competitive advantage".

"We need local plans to protect our GM Free status - only they can give us the certainty we need to brand our products as made in 'GM Free Hawke's Bay'," the letter said.

"Don't change the Resource Management Act and prevent our councils from passing the laws we need to remain competitive."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms Adams said she did not support the idea of enabling regional councils to set specific GM rules for their areas because that was a function best kept with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and standardised across the country.

"The region can market itself as GE-free now. The reality is there are no GM-produced or released plants or animals in New Zealand. We are GE-free in that respect," she said.

"The issue is really around whether it's sensible and appropriate for councils to be setting up their own rules or whether these things should be nationally regulated.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We don't have councils re-writing the road code because they think they can do a better job.

"There are some things we regulate nationally, this is one of them and I think it's an appropriate place for it."

One of the region's major corporate growers, John Bostock, challenged Ms Adams' stance, telling the Clive meeting: "We don't believe the EPA is the appropriate place for local communities to develop their own economic and branding interests."

He said branding produce to maximise its appeal to international markets was expensive and time-consuming, so the industry needed certainty through rules that ensured Hawke's Bay remained GM-free.

Discover more

Council view on GM trees awaited

03 Aug 03:00 AM

"The certainty of some rules will give the branding credibility," he said.

The Clive meeting was chaired by Ms Adams' Cabinet colleague and Tukituki MP Craig Foss.

Mr Foss' Labour Party opponent for the Tukituki seat, Anna Lorck, said later that by following the Government line articulated by Ms Adams, Mr Foss was not supporting his electorate.

"He should be listening to Hawke's Bay growers," she said.

"We want to see Hawke's Bay lead the way and work with what Pure Hawke's Bay are wanting to deliver."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today
|Updated

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Some roads remained blocked.

17 Jul 06:02 AM
'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues
Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

17 Jul 04:06 AM
Premium
Premium
Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP