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The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)[1] of New Zealand is in charge of the assessment and reassessment process of hazardous substances. And the EPA is also responsible for processing applications and setting controls for the use of hazardous substances. The assessment is for substances first approved for use in New Zealand and the reassessment is for substances with new information on usage and effect.
On August 19th, 2019, the Ministry for the Environment[2] of New Zealand issued a public consultation[3] on proposed changes to New Zealand’s hazardous substances management system. MFE of New Zealand issued this consultation in order to make improvements on the assessment and reassessment process of new and existing hazardous substances and to encourage the introduction of beneficial and ‘greener’ substances.
Currently, New Zealand’s assessment and reassessment process of hazardous substances is slow and resource-intensive and also entails problems such as delaying the entry of beneficial chemicals into the market and fostering continued use of chemicals assessed using out-of-date chemical management mechanisms. Therefore, the government is seeking to improve the assessment and reassessment process to ensure better protection of people and the environment.
This consultation will end on September 30th, 2019 at 5pm, and the government will hold stakeholder meetings during the consultation period. After the end of the consultation, the government will summarize the feedback collected and the results of a cost-benefit analysis to the Cabinet. It is predicted that the official policy decisions on hazardous substances management system will be released on December 2019.
Any interested party or person can submit his/her feedback using one of the following options:
Use online submission tool[4], which is a preferred way to receive submissions.
Answer the questions in the consultation document [5] and email to [email protected].
