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

NZ Embassy in London Hit by Terminator Protest

Protests outside the New Zealand embassy in London show the serious threat to our international standing from the New Zealand government's support for Terminator Technology at the UN Convention on BioDiversity in Brazil.

New Zealand's stance is undermining our standing amongst the international community as a responsible global citizen and more protests can be expected.
"It is sad to see New Zealand giving the finger to the rest of the world and promoting Terminator 'case by case'. The developing world will be opened up to massive exploitation by unscrupulous multinationals if the existing moratorium on Terminator is destabilised," says Jon Carapiet from GE Free NZ in food and environment.

New Zealand must move to respect the ethical and moral dilemmas that Terminator presents to humanity, and stop trying to force an unwanted technology on a world crying out against it.

"We are on the wrong side of history and should recognise that these issues cannot be left to small nations and the develping world to fight their corner against powerful interests driven by the purist of motivations:greed," says Mr.Carapiet

ENDS
Jon Carapiet 0210 507 681

GRIM REAPER STALKS NZ EMBASSY IN LONDON TO PROTEST GOVT STAND ON TERMINATOR

by Graham Thompson Phone: ++44 7932 842 24 Mar 2006 The Grim Reaper appeared in front of the New Zealand Embassy in London this morning, with a banner protesting the NZ Government's refusal to oppose
Terminator technology.

London-23 March 2006--The Grim Reaper appeared in front of the New Zealand Embassy in London this morning, with a banner protesting the NZ Government's refusal to oppose Terminator technology.

The protestors held a banner in front of the embassy reading "NZ: ban GE Terminator seeds now" and distributed hundreds of leaflets to passers-by in the London rush hour.

The protestors are part of a world wide network of concerned citizens who care about the 1.4 billion people across the world who depend on farm-saved seed for survival. Terminator, sterile seed technology, would put an end to
this practice and make farmers buy their seed every year from seed
companies.

New Zealand, along with only Canada and Australia, is supporting the lifting of a defacto ban agreed by Governments in 2000 which stopped farm trials of terminator technology because of the threat this technology poses. It is facing the wrath of the developing world on this issue as the Convention on Biological Diversity talks continue in Brazil. 300 environmental and farmers groups from across the world have signed an international petition to ban
Terminator.

New Zealand is arguing that Terminator ought to be considered on a "case by case" basis but this approach is being slammed as the thing which could undermine - and eventually eliminate - the defacto ban.

"New Zealand advertises itself as 100% pure but that's clearly a complete sham. It's a case of "I'm alright jack" where so-called clean, green New Zealand doesn't seem to care about what it unleashes on the rest of the world. This is a clear case of double standards and New Zealand completely ignoring its international development obligations," said one of the protestors, Graham Thompson.

"We call on New Zealand to do the right environmental thing and oppose Terminator technology in any form, including its so-called case-by-case basis."

For information: Graham Thompson ++44 7932 842 266

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