10 Feb 2014

Court backs Bay of Plenty council

5:41 pm on 10 February 2014

The Environment Court has upheld the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's right to refer to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its regional policy statement, GE Free New Zealand says.

An Environment Court hearing was held late last year because Crown Research Institute Scion wanted references to community concerns about the risk posed by GMOs in the Bay of Plenty deleted from a small section of the statement.

Scion claimed the reference would result in duplication of the precautionary approach to GMOs.

The regional council was joined by five other organisations, including the Soil and Health Association of New Zealand and GE Free New Zealand, in its defence.