2014 Far North District Council 6 September 2014

6 September 2014

To the Councillors and Officers of

Far North District Council l

Private Bag 752

KAIKOHE 0440

cc Community and Local Board Members

For attention: Tammy Wooster, Senior Policy Planner

Proposed Plan Change No. 18 Genetically Engineered Organisms

Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility (PSGR) is a Charitable Trust established to provide independent scientific assessment and advice on matters relating to genetic engineering and other associated scientific matters.

PSGR supports retaining and strengtheningthe publicly notified Far North District Council Proposed Plan change in its entirety as written to ban the release into the environment of all genetically engineered organisms, and including prohibiting any approvals for outdoor experiments or field trials made by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

Should an approval be made by the EPA and release be forced to proceed PSGR supports:

· Making any outdoor experiments or field trials approved by the EPA a discretionary activity subject to stringent local additional conditions, particularly those not required under the Hazard Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act;

· Applicants paying a substantial bond and being held accountable for any necessary remediation and other costs;

· Establishing stringent on-going monitoring of releases by independent scientists. Under the HSNO Act, the EPA ceases to have responsibility or jurisdiction over an approved release of a transgenic organism once that new organism ceases to be considered as such. Little or no further attention or testing by an independent body applies. PSGR supports remedying this.

PSGR supports the precautionary steps on genetic engineering technology policies of all Tai Tokerau Iwi authorities for their respective rohe.

PSGR supports the work of Northland and other northern Councils to protect New Zealand’s:

· Biosecurity;

· Unique biodiversity;

· Producers and exporters of primary products from agriculture, horticulture, beekeeping, viticulture, silviculture and forestry, and its gardeners;

· Food sovereignty;

· Heritage seeds;

· Growing domestic and export organic industry;

· Hua Parakore;

· Environment and economy as a whole; and

· Public health from the proven and potential risks posed by releasing genetically engineered organisms into the environment.

PSGR supports fully contained and supervised use of genetically engineered organisms for the furtherance of science.

PSGR does not gain an advantage in trade competition through this submission and is not directly affected by an effect of the subject matter of the submission.

PSGR wishes to be heard and may chose to present a joint case.

Trustees of Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility Charitable Trust

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