PRESENT: Andrew Beach (Acting Pres.), John Burnet (Sec.) and 28 members and visitors as listed in the attendance book.

APOLOGIES: Nancy Fithian, Alistair Lockie, Andrew Yung, Ken Breden, John Robson, Marie & Chris Christofel, David Parkes, Richard Hatfield, Frank & Mary-Ann Lindsay.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Minutes of meeting held 14 June were read and confirmed.

MATTERS ARISING: Some beekeepers reported receiving two DECA AFB manuals in error and others none. Some redistribution required by AgriQuality.

GENERAL BUSINESS: Alan Gibb advised he was giving up beekeeping and thanked the Club’s beekeepers for their support and guidance over the years. He strongly recommended the buddy system for all new and inexperienced beekeepers.

The bee product labelling issue was reported as currently before Government’s select committee.

PRESENTATION: Vicki Aleaxander introduced Polly Greeks from the SAFE Foods Campaign who spoke on the risks associated with the introduction of Genetically Modified Foods. Main points from Polly’s speech:

• New Zealanders have been unknowingly eating GM food for nearly three years and are now questioning the ethical and moral issues presented by cross-species to enable growers to grow crops which will keep longer, bring higher returns and permit reduced herbicide application, and the implantation of human genes into animals, to produce cures for incurable diseases.
• No one is certain how much GM food is currently on NZ supermarket shelves however there are no wholly genetically modified processes food products and no genetically modified fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, poultry or meats on sale in NZ. Some GM food is imported packaged food. Others are foods made in NZ with widely occurring food industry ingredients which have been genetically modified at source in the USA.
• Until the govt announces its decision on ANZFA’s recommended labelling, you will only know if your foodstuff is genetically modified if the manufacturer or the retailer has taken the trouble to label accordingly. The govt has no immediate plans for mandatory labelling or local testing of GM foods. The Grocery Marketers Assoc has vigorously defended the safety of approved GM ingredients in NZ manufactured foods on the basis of its prior testing by USA’s Food and Drug Administration and food safety authorities in the UK, Europe and Australia. It opposes labelling for other than wholly or substantially GM foods. However in response to public concerns, some local food manufacturers have, voluntarily, begun to label some of their products e.g Sanitarium. and Goodman Fielder Wattie.
• According to the US Ambassador the US Government would take a dim view if NZ introduced mandatory labelling and banned GM crops originating in USA. Unless they are substantially different from their unmodified equivalents, GM foods are not required to be labelled in USA or Canada. If NZ were to make labelling manditory USA would regard the requirement as a challege to free trade.
• The British campaign against GM food has been marked by a series of direct action strikes by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Alarmed retailers such as Tesco have subsequently banned the use of GM ingredients in their own-label products. The Tory party is opposed to GM foods.
• What are the ethics and moral issues of giant multinationals such as Monsanto, Novartis, Rhone-Poulenc Agro, Dow AgroSciences and Du Pont owning genes (the property of everybody) and having a monopoly on the world’s seed supply ? These agrochemical companies are currently buying up seed companies and can guarantee rapid uptake by farmers of their new GM plants and exclusive use of their chemicals. These companies play tough when they discover farmers growing their patented plants, either deliberately or accidently without having paid a licence fee. Monsanto has taken hundreds of US farmers to court including those whose non-GM canola crops were evidently contaminated by GM canola seed which drifted onto their land from nearby plantings.
• There have already been field trials of GM crops in NZ i.e potatoes, barley, sugar beet, canola, broccoli and maize however there are no GM food crops being grown commercially in NZ. There is currently no commercial GM crop growing in the UK although there are numerous field trials. Canada has been growing GM crops since 1994 and currently around 40 genetically modified farm plants are grown mostly canola, corn, potato and tomatoes. South Africa, Brazil and Argentina are also growing GM crops.
• Europeans are highly sensitive to food safety issues and support for organic food is strong and growing. The French and Germans have persuaded other European governments to agree to a global inquiry into the safety of GM foods and some European countries have called on the EU to impose a moratorium on commercial releases of GM crops.

Meeting closed about 8.30pm with supper.

John Burnet