Surprise check on field trial

STEFFAN BROWNING

Contentious stalk: A field trial brassica stalk described as flowering by Soil and Health Association spokesman Steffan Browning.

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MAF Biosecurity New Zealand has conducted a surprise audit of a former genetic engineering (GE) field trial site near Lincoln after a tip-off from an environmental group.

Soil & Health Association spokesman Steffan Browning contacted the government biosecurity watchdog after spotting what he claimed was a flowering brassica plant at the site on Sunday.

A flowering plant would breach conditions imposed by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) on the 10-year field trial of GE broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and forage kale.

Browning told the organisation there was a risk the plant, which was genetically engineered to contain a natural pesticide to kill caterpillars, could spread through pollen.

If it did not deal with it he would trespass on the site and remove the offending stalk himself.

MAF Biosecurity confirmed it visited the site on Monday.

Communications manager Helen Keyes said no breach was found.

"There was nothing to remove," she said.

Lincoln-based crown research institute Plant and Food Research initially said it was possible the plant Browning saw was in a "guard row", which are allowed to flower under Erma controls.

MAF Biosecurity told Plant and Food Research it was "happy that everything was in order".

Plant and Food Research spokesman Nick Ashby said the trial sites were monitored and the institute ensured it adhered to Erma controls.

When presented with photographs of the plant, spokesman Roger Bourne confirmed it was a flower stalk on a kale plant "undergoing general regrowth".

"This flower stalk was removed the next day as part of the routine protocol for ongoing monitoring and management of the site," he said.

"The researcher who removed the stalk observed no open flowers."

Because the flowers were not open it was allowable under Erma regulations, he said.

Browning criticised the "lax" approach to Erma conditions.

Browning, who lives in Blenheim but stood for the Green Party in Kaikoura in last month's general election, visited the site, which is surrounded by a 2m-high deer fence, with The Press on Monday.

He photographed the plant that had had its stalk removed. A tag at the base of the plant read "cry1Ba1", which he said was a strong indication it had been part of the field trial.

The code matched a confidential report on the trial seen by The Press.

- © Fairfax NZ News