The [New Zealand] National Party is campaigning to reverse the “ban” on gene editing and genetic modification.
Current regulation of gene editing (GE) and genetically modified organisms (GMO) make it very difficult for farms to produce anything from crops, livestock or grasses that have been gene edited. This effective ban has been in place for more than two decades, and was the subject of heated debate when the legislation was last revisited in 2003.
National Party science and innovation spokesperson Judith Collins said the ban was costing New Zealand and making it harder to reach climate change goals.
“[Gene technology] has been used in New Zealand laboratories since the 1970s, but restrictive rules, drafted in the 1990s, make research outside the lab all but impossible. This means our scientists must head overseas to conduct further research,” she said.
The party released policy on [June 11], saying it would reverse the ban and introduce a new biotech regulator, if elected in October.
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The policy document said the country had lost potentially billions under the current GE regulations.
It also criticised the current framework, which was overseen by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), saying it was outdated and overly cautious.
