Hawaii's big island bans Biotech companies & GMO crops
The Hawaii County Council passed a bill, 6-3, that forbids biotech companies from operating on the Big Island and prohibits all new genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. (The papaya industry, which has more than 200 farms on the Big Island, is exempt from the bill.) The bill includes fines of $1,000 a day for violators.
Mayor Billy Kenoi hasn’t indicated his stance on the bill, but he has 10 days to veto it. The county council could override a veto with a vote from six members.
Passage of Bill 113 comes just days after the Hawaiian island of Kauai pushed forward legislation that severely increases regulations of biotech companies.
For the most part, local farmers in Hawaii don't grow GMO crops. But, according to Honolulu Civil Beat, small farmers "worry that they won't have access to future, cutting-edge technologies that could help in their operations."
Dean Okimoto, president of the Hawaii Farm Bureau, told Civil Beat that while the bill targets large biotech, it could end up hurting small farmers down the road. "How can you say you can only farm what you are farming now?" he said. "You may be putting guys out of business by restricting what they can and cannot use going forward. The cattle guys are depending on trying to develop a drought resistant grass."
Source: huffingtonpost.com
