Dear John --

Gene Editing and Genetic Modification have been around for three decades but in New Zealand the moratorium on testing outside the laboratory continued until the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and I made the announcement earlier this month that genetic research restrictions are to be relaxed to allow field trials to occur here.  

The new Gene Technology Bill was announced at Plant & Food Research’s Mt Albert Research Centre. It will allow New Zealand scientists to develop and test plants, (which have been edited with minor genetic changes similar to those found in nature), right here using the actual growing conditions of New Zealand. Currently these conditions are not able to be replicated in overseas trials.  

The new Bill and associated regulations, will also remove high administrative burdens for experiments undertaken in containment in laboratory conditions, improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of research. 

The proposed lifting of the moratorium has been welcomed by the members of the scientific community who have stayed in the country! Understandably, many have had to leave in order to carry on their work in scientific research.  

The current New Zealand laws applied to doing genetic research mean any testing outside the lab has to go through a complex and prohibitive approval regime. 

AgResearch science team leader Richard Scott has welcomed the bold moves proposed in the Gene Technology Bill after decades of inaction which he said have failed to recognise gene technologies are now more precise and safer than they have ever been. 

He told me that it is now known that certain changes made by gene editing, for example, are virtually indistinguishable from changes that can occur naturally or through conventional breeding of organisms. 

Scott said it takes years to trial, test and refine a technology and he does not expect a flood of new products to be proposed for release. 

Plant and Food Research chief scientist Richard Newcomb said the new Bill and regulations will allow scientists to develop new plant varieties and help the agrifood sector to adapt to challenges such as climate change while remaining globally competitive. 

Researchers and food producers overseas are using these GM and GE technologies to develop foods that directly compete with those from NZ and in fact the GM ones may have more of the characteristics that consumers want. Therefore, it is clear, NZ needs to change its approach to be able to keep up with the competition. NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller said to get the desired outcome from these changes to our GM laws, the government also needs to consider how to stimulate a biotech sector to commercialise and scale up activities. I think the Gene Technology  Bill is a good starting point. 

Genetic modification has proven environmental benefits like reducing the use of water and fertiliser to grow crops and increasing resistance to disease and drought. Of interest to farmers is the ryegrass that has been developed to make it more digestible and so reducing the flatulence in the dairy herds. Methane being one of the big contributors (up to 30 percent world-wide) to gases causing global temperatures to increase. 

Plant & Food Research scientists will use gene technologies to develop of new varieties of crops that offer additional value to consumers, such as high concentrations of healthy compounds, or that allow growers to produce fruit in new growing systems, such as undercover or in regions where warmer winters do not provide the environmental triggers needed to initiate flowering. 

New Zealand’s Gene Technology law that I am introducing and which the scientific community support, will be closely based on Australia's Gene Technology Act 2000. We are taking a ''hybrid approach'' to regulation with applications assessed under a risk framework. 
 
The Gene Technology Bill proposes setting up a regulator group to assess and recommend or determine how to manage the risks. The regulator will have the power to exempt specific gene technologies from regulations if they pose minimal risk or cannot be distinguished from what is achievable through conventional breeding techniques.  

A technical advisory group of 12 scientists and researchers will also support the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on gene technology regulation procedures and technical matters, aiming to ensure officials' interpretation of the relevant science is accurate and the risks and opportunities clearly understood.  

Importantly, the Bill’s regulations will include rigorous measures to protect non-GM crops. 
 
The new law would allow greater use of gene editing, and the changes will be risk proportionate, evidence based, internationally aligned, focus on management of risks and use overseas experiences to ensure an efficient and transparent process. 

The existing laws of the Human Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act 2004 will continue to apply under the new regime. However, the ability for regional councils and territorial and unitary authorities to restrict the use of GMO’s will be removed from the Resource Management Act 1991. 
 
Monitoring and research shows the wide use and consumption of GMOs in human food which has been produced and widely available since 1992,  have and have had no toxic effects on human health. The four main benefits of GMO foods are reduced production costs, increased yields, reduction in environmental damage and increased nutritional values.  
The new Gene Technology Bill will allow New Zealand to be part of the solution, reducing global hunger, protecting the environment and promoting biodiversity while using global best practice and allowing us to capitalise on the benefits. New Zealand's biotech sector, of which gene technology is a part, generated $2.7 billion in revenue in 2020.  Without the restrictions this is likely to increase substantially in the years ahead. 
 
The Gene Technology Bill will allow New Zealand to take on the world once again as a leading food producing nation that also provides its own citizens with quality food at affordable prices. 

In our thoughts 

My sincere condolences to the families of the three victims of the horrific vehicle accident on the motorway near Bombay and Ramarama last Monday. My thoughts are with them and with the other eight people innocently involved and badly injured. I wish those still in hospital a speedy and complete recovery.  

I am sure we are all grateful for the selfless actions of members of the public who immediately  stopped and did their best to offer first aid and comfort before our brave emergency services personnel could get to the scene. I particularly endorse Inspector Tony Wakelin and his team for their actions and response to a tragic situation that will be very hard to forget for all who witnessed it. 

Please take careful of yourselves and those you love, 

Judith