GE Free New Zealand in Food & Environment, 27^th January 2006

Community Backing for Maori Call to Ban Terminator Seeds

All political parties, especially the Labour government, should be taking a lead from the Maori Party's stand opposing so called "Terminator Seeds"
which reflects the views of the wider community in New Zealand and around the world.

There is wide opposition to Terminator seeds and other "Genetic Use Restriction Technologies" across all sectors of the New Zealand community,
including new New Zealanders from Asia and the Pacific, as well as people of European descent and amongst Maori.

"The Labour Party should stop supporting such developments and start reflecting the shared-values of New Zealanders. Both here and abroad, the
idea of deliberately creating seeds to become infertile and forcing farmers to buy new seeds each year is seen as a crime against humanity," says Jon
Carapiet from GE Free NZ in food and environment.

"Terminator seeds are a threat to food security, sustainabilty and the rights of billions of people around the world, and our govrnment should ban
them, as countries like India have already done," Mr.Carapiet says.

"To keep faith and maintain its international standing for fairness, New Zealand must overturn the policy promoted by former- environment Minister
Marian Hobbs which supported developing a 'case by case' approach to Terminator technology.The international social, ethical and environmental
issues must be investigated first."

Referring to the Convention on Biological Diversity, where delegates have been shocked by New Zealand's backing for lifting an informal moratorium on
development of Terminator technology and other forms of patent- protection sterility - Tariana Turia says the government's stand will be under close
scrutiny at the next international meeting.

"These issues are uppermost in our minds with the United Nations meeting next week in Spain expected to discuss, again, the contentious issues around
the so-called ‘Terminator Technology,’ she says.

"The Maori Party will be writing to the Government to encourage them to maintain the moratorium against Terminator Technology" stated Mrs Turia.

"The New Zealand Government and the Labour Party risk being on the wrong side of history if they do not respond to the particular case of Monsanto's
Terminator Seed developments with an outright ban," says Mr Carapiet.

ENDS


Contact Jon Carapiet 0210 507 681

Maori Party Commends Initiative of the ‘Guardians of the Kumara’
Tariana Turia, Co-leader, Maori Party; 20 January 2006

Back to Press Release Directory