Genetic modification

Transcription

1 Genetic modification 2002/01 21 February 2002 Introduction What is GM? The Parliamentary Library has prepared a resource document to assist MPs in informing themselves about the genetic modification issue. This Background Note provides the executive summary and a summary table. The full Background Paper (86 pp) is available to MPs and support staff from the Parliamentary Library on request. Genetic modification (GM), also known as genetic engineering (GE), involves the modification and/or transfer of individual segments of DNA (genetic information). This creates new genetic combinations, usually involving species that would not normally inter-breed in nature. This is possible because the chemicals that make up the various gene segments are the same in all species. There are a number of uses for GM, including include research, education, medicine, industrial production, environmental management, and food. Each involves different risks and opportunities. GM in New Zealand GM medicine In New Zealand many GM applications are involved in research. All viable GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are in contained use. Products in the marketplace made using GMOs are primarily medical applications and a few approved foods and food additives. There are about 76 medicines approved for human use that are derived from GMOs and some 369 in the development pipeline in the USA. In New Zealand, 20 are approved and in use, mostly in clinical or hospital settings. Only two (insulin and vaccination for hepatitis B) are in widespread use. There are also thousands of products from GMOs used for diagnosis in New Zealand medical laboratories. Examples include screening blood products and organs for HIV and hepatitis B, testing for prostate cancer, and testing for inherited metabolic disorders. GM research GM techniques have been used in research in New Zealand since the 1970s. Prior to the establishment of the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA), GM research was managed by a voluntary system. Since 1998, ERMA has granted 101 approvals to import or develop a GMO in containment, 13 approvals to field-test a GMO in containment, and no approvals to release GMOs to the environment. The majority of these approvals have involved micro-organisms, plants and laboratory mice. In addition, 657 approvals for development of low-risk GMOs have been granted under delegation by Institutional Biological Safety Committees.

2 In 1998/99, 17% of the 2,088 biotechnology applications in use in New Zealand were DNA based services (including diagnostic tools derived from GMOs). The majority (80%) of these applications were involved in research and development, principally in the tertiary education, scientific research, and health services sectors. GM food No GM food crops are grown in New Zealand at present. For these to be grown, the GM variety must have received a GMO release approval from the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA). Government has proposed a two-year period of constraint on GMO release applications, except for medical, animal health, or emergency reasons. An estimated 44.2 million hectares of commercial GM crops were planted around the world in 2000, or 1.7 times the size of New Zealand. Virtually all of this production is in the USA, Argentina, and Canada. Other countries that have grown commercial GM crops are China, Australia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, France, Portugal, Romania, and the Ukraine. There are over 70 GM crop varieties that have been approved for planting, and the dominant varieties are herbicide tolerant soybean, canola, maize and cotton, and insect tolerant (Bt) corn. Some foods in New Zealand may contain ingredients produced from GMOs from overseas (currently including canola oil, soy or corn products, cottonseed oil, and potatoes.) Currently, there are 12 GM food crop varieties, eight GM food processing aids, and three GM food additives approved for sale in food products in Australian and New Zealand. Food products in New Zealand and Australia of GM origin and still containing GM DNA must now be labelled. Exceptions are for stocks already on the shelves before 7 December 2001, highly refined foods or additives produced from GMOs where the effect of refining is to remove the novel DNA and/or protein, flavours which comprise 0.1% or less of the food, foods prepared at point of sale, and unintended presence of GM content (up to 1% of content). The only GM livestock in New Zealand are involved in pharming (production of medicine, rather than food) and are in strict containment. However, research has been and continues to be conducted in New Zealand on both GM plants and animals that may be used to produce food. Public opinion In New Zealand and overseas, public opinion on GM is clearly differentiated by GM application type. The majority approves of medical applications and disapproves of GM food, field, and non-pest animal applications. The vast majority (92%) of the 10,861 public submissions presented to the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification were opposed to GM applications in New Zealand. There was some support for medical applications from people who opposed other applications such as food. The level of opposition to GM in the submissions was significantly higher than in public opinion surveys. Like the general public, Māori views are predominantly against GM, especially in food. In addition to potential risks to human and ecosystem health, Mäori cultural dimensions of concern about GM relate to such matters as whakapapa (not interfering with the genealogy of people and indigenous species), mauri (preserving essence and purity by not mixing materials from disparate sources), and tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty over taonga or treasured resources). 2

3 A large survey of New Zealand farmers and growers in 2000 showed that those who definitely did not intend to adopt GM greatly outnumbered those who definitely wished to adopt it (44% vs. 21% for GM technology and 49% vs. 12% for GM food). Royal Commission on Genetic Modification The Royal Commission on Genetic Modification conducted a very thorough investigation, involving 15 public meetings, 11 hui, 29 workshops, one youth forum, 13 weeks of hearings from 107 officially designated Interested Persons, 10,861 public submissions, and a public opinion survey of 1,153 New Zealanders. The major theme of the Commission s report, presented to Government on 27 July 2001, was Preserving Opportunities. The Commission thought it unwise for New Zealand to turn its back on the potential advantages on offer from genetic modification, but recommended that New Zealand should proceed carefully and implement genetic modification cautiously, minimising and managing risks. Recommendations and Government response The Commission made 49 recommendations to Government. These included amendments to streamline approvals for low risk GM research, the establishment of independent advisory and overview bodies, constraints on GMO release, information and policy gaps, consumer information, intellectual property rights, and Treaty of Waitangi and cultural issues. The Government supported the overall strategy of preserving opportunities but came to some different conclusions as to how the overall strategy should best be implemented. The Government proposed a two-year period of constraint on applications for commercial release of GMOs during which the recommended work on a preserving opportunities strategy would be undertaken. [The full background report contains a table with the text of all of the recommendations, and the Government s response on each one as of November 2001.] Legislation before the House The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Genetically Modified Organisms) Amendment Bill (new name pending) would amend the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 to create a two year period of constraint on applications for GMO release to the environment. Supplementary Order Paper 231 would amend the Medicines Act 1981 to impose restrictions on xenotransplantation and modification of the genome of human embryos. Some key issues Ecosystem and health risks Risk and uncertainty were the greatest areas of concern in the public submissions to the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification, especially the risk of environmental damage and threats to health and food safety. Submitters generally believed that the risks were potentially huge and irreversible, that consent agencies lacked the ability to properly identify them, and that past technological disasters (DDT, thalidomide, asbestos, introduced pests) indicated that GM-based disasters would occur. Concerns about the effect of GM crops on the environment and health include: effects on soil ecology and non-target species; outbreeding of related GM varieties to non-gm crops and wild populations; horizontal gene transfer; increased weediness, resistance of pests, and pesticide use levels; creation of new allergens and disease agents; and mixing of GM and non- GM products in the food chain. 3

4 Buffer zones and non-gm varieties Costs and benefits To fulfil the Royal Commission s suggested strategy of preservation of opportunities and coexistence requires finding means to keep GM and non-gm gene pools separate. So far, knowledge on buffer zone design and management has been inadequate to protect non-gm canola in Canada and corn in the USA and Mexico. The Government has agreed to the Commission s recommendation that policy be refined in this area before field release of GMOs is allowed. One of the major concerns in public submissions to the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification was that the benefits of GM were being captured by multinationals, but risks and potential costs would have to be borne by the environment and local communities. The potential for adverse economic impacts on non-gm industry (e.g. organic farming and tourism) were cited in many submissions, but very few submissions considered the direct contribution to the economy from the biotechnology industry. Currently, the proportion of the national economy involved with GM is small, principally in tertiary education, research and development. Biotechnology companies in New Zealand see GM technologies as an essential part of obtaining increased share of the international market. The funding currently allocated through Vote Research, Science and Technology in New Zealand for GM research is estimated to be about $48 m per year. This is allocated to a range of Crown Research Institutes and universities, and includes $16 m for health research. The total funded value of GM research is somewhat higher, including private and other public (e.g. Vote Education) sources. Costs from GM crops that may be imposed on conventional non-gm and organic growers include loss of non-gm certification through GM contamination. The value for the 2000 harvest of organic produce was $60 m, and with current trends is projected to increase to $170- $340 m. If the use of GM affects New Zealand s clean green image, effects may also be felt on other industries such as non-organic exports and tourism. Cost and benefit data relating to GM in New Zealand is very limited. Officials are currently preparing terms of reference for a study of the economic implications for New Zealand of both using GM and restricting the use of GM, focusing on the opportunities and risks that each of these options will create. On the following page is a table from the report summarising some of the main GM applications and public opinion. The full report Genetic modification: a resource document for New Zealand MPs is available from the Parliamentary Library (ext. 9888). Dana Rachelle Peterson, Research Analyst Research and Analysis Branch Parliamentary Library Copyright NZ Parliamentary Library Except for educational purposes permitted under the Copyright Act 1994, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including information storage and retrieval systems, other than by Members of Parliament in the course of their official duties, without the consent of the Parliamentary Librarian, Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand. 4

5 Types of GM application present in New Zealand: experimental and commercial applications, and public views Type of GM application Present in New Zealand? Research and development in containment Commercial products out of containment Public view : how many in poll believe it is: already used in New Zealand acceptable Medicine - medical research -- 72% 65% - diagnostic tools medicines and vaccines (e.g. GM sheep and cow milk for producing medicine) - gene therapy (e.g. Canavan s Disease) Food (see Table 3.3) 62% 64% (e.g. potatoes, forage plants) -- 79% 52% - research w/ plants - research w/ animals (e.g. mice, pigs, sheep, cattle, salmon) - commercial crops -- no -- 67% 37% - farm animals (e.g improved sheep meat production) no - fresh foods -- no -- - processed foods -- ( and GMO*) (e.g. imported products from GM corn, canola, soy, potato, some food processing aids Tables 3.5, 3.6 ) Forestry Floriculture Pest control Bioremediation Education (e.g. herbicide-resistant pine) (e.g. petunias) (e.g. possum fertility) (e.g. bacteria to remediate DDT in soils) (57% of New Zealand uses of GM in 1998/99) 68% 42% 43% 30% 68% 22% no 65% 58% = refined from products of a GMO, rather than itself being a GMO (e.g. GM bacteria used to create a human protein which is then refined to make a medicine; oil refined from GM soy) * Materials not highly processed (e.g. corn meal or potato flour) are referred to here as GMO, although they are not living in the sense that they are viable seed or tubers when imported into New Zealand. This would require an Environmental Risk Management Authority approval for deliberate release of a GMO, and no such consents have been granted. Shaded cells in table: areas where results suggest the public may have a misunderstanding about GM prevalence. Sources: Royal Commission on Genetic Modification 2001, Chapters 7-9; Appendix 3, section 6, p. 183 (public opinion); Roberts (ca. 2000), p. 12 (reference to animals in research); Ministry of Health 2000 (pp. 3, 36: gene therapy); Statistics New Zealand 2001, Table 2.02 (p.13) (reference to prevalence of research applications). 5