A plan to develop and commercialise genetically modified animals from nine species will be challenged in the High Court at Wellington on Monday.
GE-Free New Zealand is to ask for the withdrawal of development applications by the Environmental Risk Management Authority and AgResearch, a Crown research institute.
AgResearch has made four applications to develop, import and commercialise genetically modified animals from nine species, including sheep, cows, pigs and horses.
GE-Free spokesperson Jon Carapiet says the applications lack detail, making it impossible to reasonably assess the risks.
Mr Carapiet says other countries are abandoning the case-by-case approach to risk assessment as applications get broader.
He says the plan amounts to the most significant set of applications in recent years.
