25/10/2026 Parties "Further Consideration" of Gene Technology Risks Environment and Economy.
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25/10/2026 Parties "Further Consideration" of Gene Technology Risks Environment and Economy. |
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The Organic Score Card for election 2026 [1] has outlined the stand Parties have on the opportunity for growing the sector. For National and Act, The Gene Technology Bill is still at the top of the order paper, despite the threat it presents to New Zealand's reputation for safe, natural, non-GE products. The Bill had 15000 submissions detailing the flaws in the legislation. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment highlighted concerns over the Bill. [2] The National's Associate Minister for Organics, Mike Butterick has stated that the Gene Technology Bill is under “further consideration”(supported by the Opportunities Party). He claims the reason we should embrace the technology is that the NZ seed industry is at risk due to the EU loosening its laws around GE. NZ imports Belgium lettuce seed to bulk up for the Northern hemisphere countries spring planting and the result of not adopting GE will be the collapse the lettuce seed industry. [3] "This is scaremongering and is undeniably opposed to the Organic sector he is supposedly supporting," said Claire Bleakley, GE-Free NZ president. “For many years international seed companies have bulked their non-GE corn for the overseas markets and this has not had an adverse effect but instead guaranteed that a supply of non-GE corn is available.” The New Zealand First, Green, Te Pāti Māori and Labour parties have strong policies to address risk of gene technologies, with support for contained laboratory and clinical medical research. These do not pose the same threat that the release of pollen from GE ryegrass or GE clover does to farmers whose markets rely on being GE Free. Countries like those in South America, Australia, US and Canada are between 28 and 42 times larger than New Zealand and do not have the same island weather patterns of wind, floods and earthquakes that our small country has. Our size and distance from our major markets means we cannot compete on the same playing field if we contaminate our food and fibre production with GE. Today, NZ farmers do not have the burden of GE liability, high seed cost, patent technology and licensing fees, or the risk of GE contamination. Export demand for conventional Organic and GE Free produce outstrips what we can produce. There is a premium in Australia for non-GE canola which out-competes the GE canola on price.NZ Organic milk solids, in 2025, fetched $14.15/kg a 46% premium over conventional farm gate price of $9.69. These customers and markets will not go away because we don't grow GE, but are set to grow. [4] [5] Our markets buy from us because we are producing world-class, safe, GE-Free foods. New Zealand products will forever be sought after because of these features. There is long term advantage for New Zealand in staying GE Free and supporting Organic farming, shown by the growing global market demand for non-GMO and an excellent farmer analysis of the associated profit and costs. [5] The latest statements predicting market loss coming from the government parties and GE lobbyists are unfounded. Lobbying and threats of economic repercussions if New Zealand does not adopt GE is coming from biotech companies and overseas governments and have a strong influence on our political parties,” said Bleakley These customers and markets will not go away because we don’t grow GE, so withdrawing the highly permissive GE bills is not a delay it is a protection ensuring economic security. We must not vote away our GE Free status. References: [1] https://www.oanz.org/new-blog/vote-organic-the-2026-election-scorecard [2] https://pce.parliament.nz/media/4tmbamzv/pce-note_gene-technology-bill-20250917.pdf [3] https://www.facebook.com/reel/1427581892849445 [4] https://www.oanz.org/nzmarket-report-2025 [5] https://nzfarmsource.co.nz/milk/supplying-fonterra-organic/milk-price-and-financial-information.html [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mco4a4CYofE&t=14s ENDS: Jon Carapiet, spokesperson -0210507681 Claire Bleakley- Chair - 027 348 6731 |
This election the future of New Zealand's primary exports is under the shadow of the Gene Technology Bill, with significant differences in vision and party policies for how Genetic Engineering (GE) must be regulated.