8.45am, Civic Suite, Wellington Town Hall

Good morning and thank you for the invitation to address you today.

I am pleased to be here to open this workshop on Integrating Initiatives for Pesticides Risk Reduction and to speak to you about pesticide risk reduction in New Zealand.

First, let me congratulate the Environment Risk Management Authority for organising this event. This is the second annual workshop continuing on from a very successful workshop last year, which stimulated discussion between researchers, industry groups, private companies, and Government.

I welcome the researchers, NGOs, industry, local and central government representatives who are here today. I encourage you to learn from each other and to exchange ideas freely.

I would especially like to welcome our overseas visitors who have attended the OECD Pesticide Risk Reduction Steering Group meetings and workshops over the last couple of days.

You have returned here today to promote further involvement and integration of research initiatives, industry sector practices and Government involvement for safer and sustainable use of agrichemicals.

The programme you have ahead of you today is not only stimulating and relevant but is central to the debate about agrichemical use in New Zealand.

The primary production sector is vital to New Zealand, accounting for some 65 percent of our export earnings. Management of pests in this sector is critical to ensuring continued and improved returns.

Their use, though, needs to deliver the very highest quality produce while ensuring the health of the environment, workers, the public, and consumers is protected.

The challenge to us all is to maintain and improve productivity gains while reducing adverse environmental and human health impacts from the pesticides employed. I am heartened to see your commitment to this important public issue.

New Zealand not only has world class and highly competitive production systems, it also has world leading innovators in the science and technology of pesticide use. You will hear from some of these people today.

One of New Zealand’s innovations is the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act, administered by ERMA.

HSNO legislation is designed to protect the environment and the health and safety of people. Agrichemicals are managed under this act. Enacted in 1996, the legislation is approaching two very important milestones.

By July 2006 the transitional phase of the legislation will be completed and all existing substances allowed in New Zealand and managed under previous legislation will fall directly under the new regulations.

Secondly, the experience of “bedding in” HSNO has demonstrated the need for fine tuning the Act, and I am committed to ensuring the amendment bill currently in Parliament, the one you refer to as the “Macropatch,” is passed into law.

The Bill appears to have a lot of cross-party support, and I hope it will be considered during the two-week session of Parliament in December.

This Bill provides more flexibility for ERMA to apply environmental exposure limits, for the public and for workers. This will contribute to the regulatory backbone for effective pesticide management.

However, we must recognise that legislation is only a backstop for effective management. Regulatory requirements are, after all not the sole, and are often not even the main, drivers for this.

Consumers worldwide are increasingly demanding produce from well-managed farms and orchards. New Zealand produce is recognised and sought after by international consumers because of its clean, high quality.

Later today you will be hearing about a new report on trends in pesticide use in this country that has been completed by the Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand (HortResearch).

I understand that industry representatives played an active part in producing this report, and I commend HortResearch and industry for their collaboration on this issue.

The report is an excellent baseline document from which to begin, and the relationships that developed in the production of the report provide a solid foundation from which to move towards sustainable pesticide use in New Zealand.

Managing the environmental and health risks associated with agrichemical use is going to be our challenge.

If we are to make meaningful progress on this, we need to work together.

Already there have been a number of successes in taking this approach forward: For example, industry sectors are undertaking sustainable production programmes, shifting away from broad-spectrum agrichemicals, towards more selective products, and using integrated pest management approaches.

ERMA has just approved the conditional release of a biological control agent. This is the first use of this tool. The release in the Waikato is for the parasitic Irish wasp which will help control the clover root weevil).

Additional progress has been made on residue and resistance management, research on application technologies and the collection of use and trends data throughout New Zealand’s agricultural, horticultural and forestry sectors.

I also know that some sectors have made huge efforts in the past few years to reduce pesticide risks. The efforts of the grape and pip-fruit growing sectors have been well documented.

These gains have been achieved by integrating a variety of initiatives - safer pesticides and formulations, better application techniques, more targeted spraying and using biological control insects rather than chemicals.

I am impressed with the potential of real time computer models and geographic information systems to guide when and how to apply pesticides.

The training and codes developed by organisations such as the New Zealand Agrichemical Education Trust also make an important contribution. We now have qualified people applying pesticides which will lead to fewer residues in the environment.

Collection and disposal of unused pesticides decrease the likelihood of environmental mishaps. There have been several initiatives in this area.
No one tool or initiative alone has been responsible for all these gains. Achievements have been gained through the collective synergy of a number of activities. There is, however, more that can be done, and should be done to reduce environmental and human health risks from the use of pesticides.

Today’s workshop will broaden and strengthen the relationships between researchers, growing sectors and Government. It is through working together that we will reap the full value of what has been developed and we will identify the opportunities that still exist.

At the 2004 version of this workshop ERMA launched the Hazardous Substance Risk Reduction Strategy for the specific purpose of managing the potential risks of agrichemicals. It is evident that today’s workshop and upcoming initiatives reinforce and compliment the principles of this strategy.

I am committed to the strategy and to ensuring that my Ministry and ERMA are actively involved with researchers and industry in initiatives to encourage the reduction in risk associated with pesticides.

I am thankful that ERMA not only has a regulatory role but that the Authority has also taken leadership in promoting and influencing risk reduction.

There needs to be a commitment to use chemicals both safely and effectively. To support this commitment the sectors and users need practical tools and technologies to achieve both safe and effective use of pesticides. Your work today will, I hope, contribute to the identification and development of these tools and techniques.

I encourage you to engage in this workshop with passion and enthusiasm.

This is a topic which has a direct impact on the environment, and one in which I have a close interest.

Pesticide use lies very close to the heart of achieving a viable economy and a healthy environment.

Optimising these two is my goal, and the work that you do will contribute materially to this.

Thank you.