Wellington, New Zealand
December 21, 2007
USDA/FAS GAIN report rumber NZ7037
The New Zealand Food Safety
Minister, Lianne Dalziel, announced that genetically modified
(GM) high-lysine corn produced by Monsanto can now be imported
into New Zealand. (Lysine is an amino acid fed to pigs and
chickens to aid growth.) According to the New Zealand Food
Safety Authority (NZFSA), GM high-lysine corn is as safe for
human consumption as conventional corn.
The corn was assessed and approved by
Food Standards
Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), a joint standard setting
organization, in July 2007. The previous Minister for Food
Safety delayed its gazettal in New Zealand while she sought
advice as to whether approvals for varieties not intended for
human food use are within the scope of the food treaty New
Zealand shares with Australia.
The FSANZ assessment and approval process requires two rounds of
public consultation. The final safety assessment was externally
peer-reviewed and, to ensure the assessment took into account
the New Zealand context, NZFSA commissioned Environmental
Science and Research, a commercial firm, to analyze the science.
The FSANZ approval for use of high-lysine corn as an animal feed
does not allow it to be grown in New Zealand. This would require
assessment and approval by the New Zealand Risk Management
Authority and further public consultation.
According to an article in the Dominion Post on Friday, December
21, the New Zealand Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons
said the Government “had given into Monsanto and had set a
dangerous precedent for untested GM animal feed to enter the
food chain”. The same article reported that Sustainability
Council executive director Simon Terry said the “it lays the
ground for routine contamination of the food chain.”
Although the product can now be imported into New Zealand, it
still must adhere to GM labeling requirements.
This is the 33rd GM product to be accepted as safe for human
consumption in New Zealand. However, it is difficult to find GM
products on supermarket shelves as most supermarkets have a
policy not to carry GM foods.
The use of high-lysine corn in human food is also allowed in the
United States, Japan, Canada ad the Philippines.
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