Report on GE maize crops savages agencies' role

By ANNE BESTON

A report critical of the way Government agencies handled a GM maize scare is more bad news for New Zealand's biosecurity.

The report by independent consultant Professor Don McGregor, delivered yesterday, reviewed the handling of the incident by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The two agencies were in charge when genetically modified maize plants were discovered growing in fields at Pukekohe and Gisborne this year.

Professor McGregor said the gaps in New Zealand's ability to deal with a similar incident had not been plugged and the issue needed to be addressed urgently.

One of the problems was confusion between Erma and MAF about which should be dealing with the incident and under which legislation.

The Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet argued that the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act set out which should do the job, but Professor McGregor said that meant the problem went to Erma.

"A quasi-judicial, decision-making board is ill-suited for directly handling operational matters," he said, "especially in a crisis."

Once responsibilities had been decided, other problems came in quick succession.

It took too long to collect and dispatch seeds to the United States and Australia for testing; there were delays within Australia getting seed to testing laboratories; and in the US laboratories were at their busiest time of year, meaning New Zealand's contaminated samples had to wait in the queue.

Officials decided among themselves what the test results meant without getting independent advice, something that exposed the Government to political risk, Professor McGregor said.

Officials also took a month to agree on just how the contaminated maize sites should be cleaned up, which the report said was far too long.

Overall responsibility for the incident had lacked clear leadership.

Professor McGregor said some findings in the report needed addressing as a matter of urgency.

While the GM maize seed incident was relatively benign, with seed company Pacific Seeds co-operating fully with enforcement agencies, that was unlikely to always be so. Future incidents were likely to be far more serious.

Professor McGregor said the level of contamination in the maize grown at Pukekohe and Gisborne was low, just 0.05 per cent, and it was estimated that of the 1.8 million plants planted, fewer than 782 were genetically modified.

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