Two applications to register a controversial synthetic cattle hormone here are arousing concern.
Increasing use in the United States of the hormone bovine somatotropin (BST) to boost milk production will increase pressure for its use in New Zealand's $7 billion dairy industry, says a Massey University academic.
The Government's Animal Remedies Board
has had two applications to register BST for sale here, one since 1994, the other since 1996.
Green Party MP Jeanette Fitzsimons said she was worried that registration did not involve a public submission process, and that officials would ignore human health concerns when considering issuing licences for the genetically engineered cattle-growth hormone.
Food Minister John Luxton said the application had been referred to the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee to consider the animal welfare aspects.
Also, the new Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act, expected to take effect in the middle of this month, would require a 30-day public consultation process before registration of any agricultural or animal health product.
Synthetic BST, also known as recombinant bovine growth hormone or rBGH, increases a cow's milk production 10 to 25 per cent. It was approved in the US in late 1993 and is used in Mexico, Brazil and Israel.
But a European Union ban on its use prohibits placing BST on the market until March 31, 2000. - STAFF REPORTER, NZPA
