News for 2004

The possibility of more honey and beehive products being allowed into New Zealand is a step closer to reality, with the completion and release of a new MAF import risk analysis on honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, beeswax and bee venom.

A new agency called Biosecurity New Zealand is about to start making life tougher for pests and bugs.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) today announced that, weather permitting, it expected to see the harvesting and further processing of fields of maize containing low levels of GM material completed in about 14 days time.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has largely completed its investigation into the planting of the maize seed containing the very low level of GM presence.

An audit of US-based GM testing laboratory Biogenetic Services Ltd (BGS) by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) identified that BGS was deficient in several audited areas, including the way it was interpreting and reporting testing results. Subsequent MAF-sponsored tests of BGS-certified seed consignments have revealed a very low level of GM in two of 15 consignments tested to date.