Source: Epoch Times
New Zealand may become the world leader in organics after European Union ministers decided to allow the contamination of organic food with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The new law adopted by the European Union’s (EU) Agriculture Council allows organic food containing up to 0.9 percent GMO content to be classed and labeled as organic. The Soil & Health Association said allowing GE contamination in Europe has given New Zealand a point of difference in the world as a GE-Free crop producer.

Co-Chair of the association, Steffan Browning, said this was a fantastic opportunity for New Zealand’s organic and conventional farmers. “The European Parliament and environmental groups had called for the threshold of contamination of organic food to be 0.1 percent. This is the lowest level at which genetically modified organisms can be technically detected. Due to our increasingly stringent bio-security and unique geographical isolation, New Zealand’s zero tolerance need not be altered,” Mr Browning said. Ongoing field trials of GMO’s in NZ could endanger this unique position, he said.