High Court GE Decision A Victory For New Zealanders

Recent polling in New Zealand confirms that most people oppose the genetic engineering (GE) of animals; twice as many respondents oppose GE in animals than support it. The New Zealand High Court has ruled against the Environmental Risk Management Authority’s decision to allow GE animals.

An appeal against the ruling for open-ended applications for genetically engineered animals by Crown Research Institute AgResearch ordered that “ERMA’s decision to accept the Applications as applications under s 40 of HSNO is set aside and ERMA is to take no further steps towards hearing and assessing the Applications.”

This decision is supported by a 2008 survey commissioned by the Soil & Health Association of New Zealand and the animal advocacy organization SAFE, which found that 27% of New Zealanders and 28% of farmers support the genetic engineering of animals; 61% of farmers who gave an opinion said they do not support the genetic engineering of animals and 28% of farmers said they did not know.

More than half of New Zealanders (55%) say they are opposed to the GE of animals and 18% want more information about what is planned, the risks involved, and the effects of GE on the animals before determining if they would support or oppose GE of animals.