Corngate
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This article is part of a series about Helen Clark |
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Administrator of the UN Development Programme General elections Cultural depictions
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Administrator of the UN Development Programme
General elections
Cultural depictions
"Corngate" was a political scandal which took place in New Zealand in 2002 and involved the suspected release of genetically modified corn seed in 2000. The possibility of the presence of a small percentage of GE corn in a seed shipment from the U.S. was raised publicly by Nicky Hager in his book Seeds of Distrust. The percentage was found well after sowing to be above "allowable limits" of contamination - the allowable limit being zero as the question of the accidental presence of GE content or the unreliability of low level testing had not been considered. The results showing GE contamination were later seen as being a PCR artifact, likely being due to contamination of the samples rather than the corn.
It became politically important due to the New Zealand Green Party stance on genetically engineered crops. The ruling Labour Party policy regarding GE research was brought into the argument allowing Corngate to become an election issue as the book, Seeds of Distrust was released a few months prior to the 2002 Parliamentary elections.
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