New Zealand Green Party Presents GE Petition.

• Position: Genetically engineered food - Brief Article

Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons' petition calling for a moratorium on growing or selling genetically engineered food in New Zealand was presented to Parliament on October5, 1999. The petition had 91,000 signatures, including that of world-renowned conservationist and television personality David Bellamy. It asked for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into genetic engineering (GE), something the Green Party has been asking for since 1998, and a moratorium until the risks of the GE technology can be better established. The petition has been distributed at public meetings around New Zealand and was launched just seven months previously. Ms. Fitzsimons said it represented "a groundswell of concern about the technology, which has been forced on New Zealanders by multinational companies and government agencies, often in secret."

"In the past seven months I have been averaging two genetic engineering meetings a week, and can't keep up with demand, mostly from non-party-members, to speak on the subject," Ms. Fitzsimons said.

"Both National and...