GM Free Food Producer
No GM crops are grown in New Zealand and the country, like many others, remains a GM Free food producer.
The primary reason for this is sustained market resistance in Europe and high value Asian markets to even trace amounts of GM in food products. After years of being a haven market for GM crops not bale to sold elsewhere, market demand for Non-GM foods in North America is strong and growing, and offers significant opportunities for New Zealand exporters.
That resistance has kept GM cropping largely corralled to the Americas, where 83% of GM crops (by acreage) are grown. The 11% of global GM production that occurs in Asia is almost all cotton, not food.
GM agriculture is also effectively confined to commodity production – just four crops account for almost all GM cultivation – and the products are generally sold as animal feed or processed into food ingredients that tend to escape labelling requirements. (See GM Food Production Facts and Figures).
More than a decade ago, the Council set out the case for New Zealand remaining GM free in food production and this found strong support in opinion polling. That position, first embraced by niche producers, has stood the test of time and is now the prevailing view across New Zealand agriculture, as major food producer look to leverage off the country’s GM Free status in premium markets.
Key documents
- GM Food Production Facts and Figures (2018)
- GM Free food is good business for NZ Inc (2012)
- New Zealand, GM Free Food Producer (2003)
