So many accidents....

Is New Zealand’s food supply under threat?
What have we learned from the escape of genetically modified (GM) corn throughout New
Zealand? The most alarming outcome of the recently concluded investigation is the least
reported. Current tools for detecting and monitoring GM organisms are too crude and
insensitive for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) to use on an environmental
scale. This realization undermines claims that uses of genetically modified organisms
(GMOs) outside of the laboratory can be contained.
If this is the best detection and monitoring we can do, then our present technology is
incapable of protecting us against both unintended importation of unwanted organisms and
illegal importation with intent to cause harm. This point is increasingly important given our
heightened awareness of New Zealand’s bio- and national security needs.
One of the contaminating GMOs first identified in Gisborne contains a modification called
the Bt11 event. That event is a set of genes used to select a plant with an increased ability
to resist insect pests, notably the corn borer, because the plants have also been modified
with a gene from a soil bacterium that produces a protein toxic to the insects. A rate of
contamination of 1-5 seeds per 10,000 (0.05%), which is just detectable, is an estimated
30,000 released GMOs, despite our best efforts to keep them out. Simple population
genetics models predict that that number could grow to 30 million plants, consuming 1000
times the land area, within 25-50 years.
Here are the facts about the GM corn that breached our biosecurity.
1. The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) and MAF have certified the
GM contaminated food as approved for human consumption even though they have
not, in our opinion, adequately identified the modified organisms. In certified
varieties with known origins and breeding histories, corn modified by the Bt11
event has been approved for human consumption. MAF/NZFSA evidence does not
demonstrate that the New Zealand GMOs with the Bt11 event are among the
approved varieties.
2. Two unknown GM organisms were detected in the harvested sweetcorn, and there
has been no identification whatsoever of the second. Again, without a positive
identification of the second GMO, no proper assessment of safet y can be made.
3. Less than 1% of the processed food derived from the sweetcorn was contributed by
the unknown GMOs. However, there is no evidence provided to assure New
Zealanders that the contaminating organism is safely consumed at or below the 1%
level.
4. Neither the NZFSA nor the industry has offered to monitor the effects of this
biosecurity breach on human health now or in the future. In our view, that is
irresponsible.
5. In the intervening months since the breach, there has been no announcement of new
legislation or resources to develop effective and appropriate technologies for
detecting, monitoring and containing organisms that are illegal in the broader New
Zealand environment. Ironically, there are instead amendments to existing
legislation [e.g. the New Organisms and Other Matters (NOOM) Bill] being
considered that would further weaken our ability to decide which organism