Farm chemical groups 'often under siege’

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 21

Farm chemical groups 'often under siege’

PA Wellington The farming community and the agricultural chemical industry have been under siege many times in the last year, said the president of the Agricultural Chemical and Animal Remedies Manufacturers Association. Mr R. W. Moffat told the association’s annual conference at Wairakei that he believed a small but dedicated group of people were trying to influence public opinion and politicians. They took an extreme anti-technology, anti-indus-try stance and an impossibly uncompromising view of

the environment in the total sense, he said. Mr Moffat cited the 1.C.1. fire as one in which no significant efforts were made by any of the regulatory authorities to tap the expertise available within the industry. “The National Poisons Centre, as an essential source of medical advice, was almost completely ignored and that is a deplorable situation.” The association strongly supported the need for funds to get all the information stored on computer and the need for further staff and greater availability of in-

formation, Mr Moffat said. He pointed out that at the environmental forum held in March to discuss the future of the Ministries of the Environment, Works, Lands and Forestry, 55 oral submissions were made. Industry as a whole was represented by only four speakers but small extreme environmental groups had a representation far outweighing the number of people they represented. “Consensus is a great thing,” Mr Moffat said, “providing some assessment of the quality and credibility of the participants is taken into account.”