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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0728.033 2000-2002 S®p°11-20D2 10:41 am Frog-HARC 808-466-5020 T-530 P.002/003 F-43@ FORAdERLY tYAWAlIA.N SUGAR FJ 4NTF.I2S'ASSOC%ATI(3N 99-193 AIZ=:a IIEtGt7TS DRYVrv, SUTTIE 30U, At~a, I-jq,WArt 96701-3911 TBI.>51P~1(ON~~ (808) 487-SS61 FAX: (808) 486-5020 hzrp://www hawaiiag.o.~/iearc C1a~ifyisag l'~.eraaa~rks I~ealseested by Council Memtser Tyler Curtis Itegae°c1Bng Testiata®ny Before the C®a><ata~lt~e ®tt ~iae~ Iles®agrees ~a Eton®anec >(Jevel®pmerat < ; Iwaii C®unty Council Septegnl~er 11, 2008 MembErs of the Committee; 1 want to apologize for not being able to attend in person yesterday. Based on the question Ms. t3ileen Yeh passed on to mz there appears to have been a misunderstanding of goy testimony. The quoted reference "a regulatory regime has begin developed, adopted, and approved by these organizations" was taken out of the proposed resolutian in the first Therefore, statetxtent. In the bc;ginning of the paragraph of my testimony that contains that quote I state that ]HfA.RC cannel support the cstablishar~nt of regulatory systems based on approvals by limited special interest organizations. The way I read the Therefore statement the Council would be supporting giving approval authority to the 1~ona orgaauzatioas mentioned in flee Therefore ctaterraent. 'The 'Therefore statement calls for a regulatory regime . {which I just quoted) which is then approved by these organizations. H1~ItC strongly apposes private sector approvals for regulatory regime, as it would result in regulatory chaos if groups across the nation were to act similarly. That is one of the major reasons there are national laws and regulations, state laws and regulations and municipal laws and regulations, and these 3 public sectors at least attempt to prevent overlapping regulatory regimes. 'hat this resolution is suggesting is that the private sector also have some regulatory function through approvals. Just as your county has a mechanism foe public input so too dots the state and nation. The passage of this resolution would indicate that the Council is supporting an additional regulatory layer. 1~IA1ZC as stated strongly opposes such a rtaeasure. As to the existence of regulations which I dad not directly address in my testimony there are at least 3 federal agencies that regulate genetically modi>Fied organisms: USDA, SPA and IRDt1. If you want-the regulatory language of these 3 agencies, I refer you to their websites. Ida have some abbreviated summaries if you wish; I can make them available. however, they do not forbid use of regulated gnaterials in specific area-s such as ehe Kona groups are requesting. 1 thitak their request gets back to the organic issue that I tried to cover in my testimony. If, as some claim now, it is a 'pure variety' issue, then I believe there is more misunderstanding which I will explain later. As for those who distrust the system and the people involved, it needs to be pointed out that _ increasing regulatory measures does not stop those truly intent on doing wrong. So, their goal is not achievable since no matter what t~gulations exist the evil intenders will do as they wish. For those persons there unfortunately is ago solution. ~sa~ ~ lKile l~To. fZef. T®: t~ef. 13~-€~, S®p-11-2002 10;41 am From-HARC 808-488-5020 T-530 P.003/003 F-436 ~IAWAII AGRICiJL'TtJ12E RESEARCH C6~P19?R -2- I believe everyone needs to get back to she bottom line here. 'T'he UgI has this only notification regarding a G1d~I coffee tcst. Where will be no plants tested under that notification. These are no other norifications about any other GM coffee plant. Both institutions, U~€ and hIA,IiG, have agreed to keep the industry informed of any GM research activities. So what is the problem that needs to be solved? There is some talk of having a pears variety in the Kona area. If the growers are concerned about genes moving from a GM coffee plant, they need to understand then that that samc phenomenon would exist for any coffee plant, including the many different varieties that have been located at the U]H( geamplasm collection in Kona for decades. Practically speaking, the Movement of genes among coffee plants is not like most of the crops more commonly thought about when discussing gene flow concerns. It would seem to be prudent for the Kona cof€ee associations to request workshops on the genetics of coffee to improve the general understanding in this area and to prevent misconceptions from becoming repeated eaaough that they are xxtistaken for fact. Another consideration that needs to surface is having only one variety with a widely known disease susceptibility. Rust is a disease throughout the coffee growing areas of the world, but not yet in I-€awaii, lO~Ionocropping mast often associated with conventional agrictalture has had its detradtvrs--a single variety grown on the same land over and over. If a disease or pest comes along that it is susceptible to, the crop can be all wiped out. The coffee industry in Hawaii needs to assess this risk. I-iawaii already knows the devastation that occurs when a disease or pest rs~kes its way to our islands. The most recent industry examples are the papaya ringspot virus and sa~garcane smut. disaster in sugarcane was avoided in the 197~s because the industry had a breedang and selection program and some of the varieties in its program were resistant. `Those varieties were put into commercial production and the industry reeurned to its normal output after a short period. The program regularly selects for resistance to she other known major dis®ascs not in I€awaii so that when they do arrive here the devastation that occurred in the papaya industry will not occur. 1Urtfortunately, the papaya industry was not able to select for resistance within its own plant germplasm bast to the ringspot virtis. It was only through the use of modern genetic toots that a gene that codes for a piece of the virus was able to be inserted into etas papaya and convey the resistance the fiainbow avow has to this deadly virus. This technique is being used itround the world to help all the countries that grow papaya since this virus is a global problem. Educational workshops for the industry would improve the industry's ability to assess the risks it faces, she crop it grows and the quality markets available to it. resoflution to promote cooperation and encourage education in the industry focusing on quality improvements and sustainability might be more appropriau: at this time. Sincerely, ~~j Steph ie A. Vtlhalen President and fl7irector, Experiment Statian