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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0385.041 2012-2014 Page 1 of 1 Murashige, Laura From: Jeri Moniz pamoniz @hawaiiantel.net] Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 6:15 AM To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us Subject: Testimony Against Bills 109 and 113 Attachments: Hawaii County Council.docx P1lease find attached my testimony AGAINST Bills 109 and 113 N W 2n Q -� W .►..f — - Comm. No. 3 Y.C. 4"/ Ref.To: P MBf. 'T c Ref. Dote SEP 0 4 2013 9/3/2013 Hawaii County Council Committee on Public Safety & Mass Transit Wednesday September 4, 2013 1:30 p.m. Testimony Against Bills 109 and 113 Committee Chair Ford and Members of the Committee: I oppose Bills 109 and 113 because any anti-GMO legislation in Hawaii County will discriminate against our farmers and ranchers who choose to use approved genetic engineered technology to grow safe and wholesome food and other agriculture products. These Bills also damage Hawaii's reputation for producing some of the best crops on the planet, harms our markets, and eventually destroy our agriculture industry. I am pro-farming and the right to farm in the United States of America, still a free country, under laws of and regulated by the USA and the State of Hawaii. Hawaii's farmers and ranchers may need virus resistant GMO crops to protect Hawaii from the next papaya virus strain, banana bunchy top virus, tomato spotted wilt and other vegetable viruses, or the bacterial citrus greening disease that is destroying the Florida citrus industry and may soon come to Hawaii. Furthermore, this bill will stop development of GMO ornamental and floral crops with enhanced horticultural or disease resistant characteristics. These Bills would prohibit livestock and aquaculture producers from efficiently growing cost effective feed locally, requiring them to import at a higher price the exact same feeds. How will Hawaii County farmers and ranchers compete when everyone but us has access to GE technology? The consensus of independent scientific organizations worldwide is unanimous and can be summed up by this statement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The science is quite clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe." Please vote against Bill 109 and Bill 113 Name: Jeri Moniz Occupation: Rancher/Biologist City where I live: Paauilo Scientific Organizations position on GMOs World Health Organization , . "No effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption (Ouch foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved." National Academy of Sciences "No adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population." American Association for the Advancement of Science "The science is quite clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe." American Medical Association "There is no scientific justification for special labeling of bioengineered foods. Bioengineered toads have been consumed for close to 20 years, and during that time, no overt consequences on human health have been reported and/or substantiated in the peer-reviewed literature." European Commission "No scientific evidence associating GMOs with higher risks for the environment or for food and feed safety than conventional plants and organisms." French Academy of Science "All criticisms against GMOs can be largely rejected on strictly scientific criteria. Union of German Academics and Scientists "In consuming food derived from GM plans approved in the EU and in the USA, the risk is in no way higher than in the consumption ()flood from conventionally grown plants. On the contrary, in some cases food from GM plants appears to be superior in respect to health. "