6 August 2013 Media Release:

Local Communities want stricter GE controls

Rally for Democracy the People of Nelson are planning to rally next Saturday 10 August to tell the National Government that we want our democracy back.

For immediate release from beautiful Nelson, the first New Zealand city to be declared Genetic Engineering (GE) Free, by the Nelson City Council in 2001.

Nelson and Tasman communities want their councils to be able to set their own rules for stricter controls on the outdoor use of Genetically Modified organisms (GMOs) in the Nelson Tasman region, and want the National government to respect local democratic processes.

Local ratepayers are wary of EPA approved GE field trials in this region, having had to bear a large part of the enormous costs of cleaning up the agricultural chemical contaminated site at Mapua. Local councils have a responsibility to ratepayers to minimize risks of future contamination costs from the outdoor use of GMOs in our region.

We are pleased to see that the President of Local Government, Lawrence Yule, recognizes that some councils have taken steps to create an additional tier of protection against the risks of outdoor use of GMOs because their ratepayers want a more precautionary approach than central government requires, said The People of Nelson spokesman Seager Mason.

"Nelson City was the first council in NZ to achieve the distinction of being a symbolic GE free Zone, and our council is maintaining a watching brief on the good work of other councils to create enforceable Regional Exclusion Zones for all outdoor use of GMOs.

We want Nelson City to strengthen its existing valuable GE free status- we object to threats by Amy Adams, current Minister of the Environment, to undermine local council autonomy and jurisdiction for controlling GMOs."

"We commend our local MP Nick Smith, the former Minister for the Environment, who provided written clarification in August 2010 for local councils, confirming that local authorities can regulate or prevent the outdoor use of GMOs, using the RMA."*

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Local Communities want stricter GE controls

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