GE trial farm hearing begins | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

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which controlled genetically-engineered sheep on an experimental King Country farm failed to monitor the potential spread of genetic elements, heritable material and unwanted organisms, the High Court at Wellington was told yesterday in a case brought by Featherston farmer Claire Bleakley.

Rob Ord, of Hamilton, representing Ms Bleakley, said the Environmental Risk Management Authority ? Erma ? and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry failed to adequately monitor the spread of material other than in the form of the transgenic sheep themselves.

He told Justice Miller Mrs Bleakley was seeking a judicial review of the authorities' actions leading to the sign-off on the field trial at the farm, which she argued should have continued to be monitored even after the transgenic sheep were killed and burned.

Three days have been set down for the case ? which started yesterday.

The farm was formerly run by failed Scottish entrepreneur PPL Therapeutics NZ Ltd at Whakamaru, 37km southwest of Tokoroa. The property was bought from PPL by Whakamaru Farms Ltd on April 29, after the 3500 GE sheep on the farm were slaughtered and burnt on the property between June 2003 and March this year.

The sheep carried part of the genetic code of a Danish woman so that they would express the human protein alpha-1-antitrypsin, a project for which PPL received Erma approval in 1998.

Mr Ord said Erma had erred in deciding not to re-assess the GE trial because it had not adequately considered potential risks posed by heritable material or genetic elements.

Mrs Bleakley wants Erma and MAF to reconsider the decision to take the Whakamaru farm off a register of properties with transgenic animals, and to formally end the field trial.

She wants the reconsideration to cover the issues of controls, longterm monitoring, and appropriate funding.

Mr Ord said monitoring for five years beyond the end of the trial was envisaged; extending by a further 15 years if the monitoring detected certain things.

The monitoring should cover genetic elements, heritable material and unwanted organisms.

Mr Ord noted that Johne's disease ? an illness endemic in sheep and cattle in New Zealand ? was found in sheep which died on the farm at a time when Johne's was a notifiable animal disease.

Those sheep had severe lesions in their intestines. Other transgenic sheep had died of relatively rare pseudo-tuberculosis and cancers.