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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0883.021 2006-2008 Murashige, Laura From: Susan Miyasaka [sc miyasaka@yahoo.com] t-,, Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 8:21 PMT I I'% Ls.,.) To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hj.us Subject: Against Resolution 463-08 2008 JON 23 pM 9 19 Attachments: ResolutionCoffee.doc C&jN; , C! Parr © COUNTN L=1 ResolutionCoffee.d oc (23 KB) Dear Clerk of Hawaii County Council, I would like to present written testimony against Resolution 463-08. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Dr. Susan C. Miyasaka University of Hawaii - CTAHR 875 Komohana St. Hilo, HI 96720 ph: (808) 981-8264 Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/; _ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ Comm. Na 0 ~3 'vi Ref. T . !1 1, 1 Ref. Dote 9 A 2Qflfl Testimony Presented before the Hawai'i County Council January 24, 2008 by Susan C. Miyasaka, Professor Department of Tropical Plant & Soil Sciences College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) And CTAHR Interim Hawaii County Administrator University of Hawai'i at Manoa Comm. 883 (Res. 463-08): A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING H.B. 1577 H.D.1 TO TEMPORARILY PROHIBIT THE GROWING OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED COFFEE FOR A PERIOD OF FIVE YEARS AND, AT THE SAME TIME, PERMIT RESEARCH IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SECURE FACILITY To Hawaii County Council: My name is Susan C. Miyasaka. I am a professor and agronomist in CTAHR at UH Manoa. I have 19 years of research and teaching experience in crop sciences at UH, including my research to improve the disease resistance of Chinese taro variety Bun long through genetic engineering (GE). I am providing testimony on my own behalf, but not presenting the official position of CTAHR or UH on this bill. I respectfully oppose Resolution 463-08 and HB 1577, HD1. Invasive species are a constant challenge to Hawai'i's agriculture and environment. The ongoing arrival of new invasive species is unpredictable and can have far-reaching consequences, as is illustrated by the current situation in which indigenous wili wili trees are being decimated by an invasive gall-wasp species. Crop plants like coffee are likewise vulnerable to damage by invasive species. The five-year moratorium on testing, propagating, cultivating, raising, or growing genetically modified coffee proposed in HB 1577, HD1 would limit the ability of Hawai'i's coffee industry to respond to the arrival of new pests or diseases. It would prevent the field tests that are a required part of the process by which a new transgenic cultivar is assessed. Such field testing is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and requires that precautions be taken before, during, and after the test to prevent the escape of the regulated transgenic plant from the test site. Such limitations would prevent the future development or use in Hawai'i of transgenic coffee cultivars with pest or disease resistance. Development or use of pest- or disease-resistant GM coffee would be banned even if an industry- threatening disease or pest outbreak were to result in strong support for GM coffee from the Big Island's coffee growers. By removing the option of using genetic modification to help coffee growers overcome the effects of new pests or diseases, the moratorium proposed in HB 1577, HD1 renders the state's coffee crop more vulnerable to unpredictable invasions of plant pathogens and other pests. For these reasons I respectfully oppose HB 1577, HD1 and Resolution 463-08. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.