Veto override will limit pesticide use, GMO crops on Hawaiian island

By: Christopher D'Angelo, 11/16/2013

(Reuters) - The governing body on the Hawaiian island of Kauai voted on Saturday to override their mayor's veto of a bill that seeks to reign in widespread pesticide use and the testing of new genetically modified crops. The Kauai County Council's 5-2 vote means agricultural companies will be unable to plant crops inside buffer zones created around schools, homes and hospitals. New limits will be placed on pesticide use and companies must disclose where they will plant test crops.

The vote to override Kauai County Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.'s veto caps months of protests by islanders and mainland U.S. groups opposed to extensive testing of crops on Kauai, a largely rural island that has a tropical climate considered ideal for trying out new biotech crops. The council needed five votes to cancel the veto. The spread of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed has triggered a global dispute with critics claiming GMOs require more use of pesticides and cause environmental damage and health issues for people and animals.

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