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Changing the definition of GE in food would leave consumers in the dark

Soil & Health Association stands firm against redefinition of gene technology in food standards

MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release 6 September 2024

Aotearoa New Zealand – The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand has officially submitted its comprehensive response to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), rejecting Proposal P1055, which seeks to change the definition of genetic engineering technologies used in food production. The association also urges FSANZ to extend the consultation period by at least a month to allow for sufficient time to make submissions.

Charles Hyland, soil scientist and co-chair of the Soil & Health Association, says: “Redefining gene technology to exclude new breeding techniques (like gene editing) without proper labels and safety checks threatens our ability to choose what we eat. We stand for transparency and informed choices in food consumption, not ambiguity.”

Echoing this sentiment, Jenny Lux, organic producer and co-chair of Soil & Health, highlighted the potential impacts on the organic sector. “Introducing gene-edited products into our food system without clear labels could inadvertently lead organic foods to contain genetically engineered ingredients. This is unacceptable and undermines the trust consumers place in organic labels.”

“People are concerned not just about what’s in their food, but also about how it’s been produced. The  global market for non-GMO foods is growing.”

Philippa Jamieson, Soil & Health spokesperson on GE issues, emphasised the need for rigorous safety assessments. “Gene editing and NBTs bring significant risks and uncertainties. Any food product derived from these technologies must undergo stringent safety evaluations and be clearly labelled to ensure public health is not compromised.”

The Association also acknowledges the deep cultural, ethical, intellectual property and spiritual concerns associated with gene technology expressed by Te Ao Māori. Soil & Health aligns with the perspectives of our Treaty partner organisation, Te Waka Kai Ora, that the proposal does not support their cultural expressions and rights as guaranteed under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The public is urged to participate actively in the consultation process by making individual submissions to FSANZ. The deadline for these submissions is the 10th of September 2024, at 8 PM New Zealand time. Submissions can be made via email or through the FSANZ consultation hub. The association encourages individuals to also communicate their concerns directly to MPs and through media channels to amplify their voice.

For further guidance on making submissions, or to read the full Soil & Health Association submission, please visit the Soil & Health Association website.

Contact:
Rebecka Keeling, Communications Specialist, Soil & Health Association of New Zealand  

Email: editor@organicnz.org.nz

Phone: 021 202 7664  
Website: www.soilandhealth.org.nz

Submission of the Soil & Health Association on the Therapeutic Products Bill

The Therapeutic Products Bill is intended to replace the Medicines Act 1981 and Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 and brings natural health products (NHP) into the regulation system for health products within Aotearoa/New Zealand. 

Read our full submission here.

Summary of our submission

This submission from Soil & Health focuses on the regulation of natural health products. 

Soil & Health agrees with the Purpose of the Therapeutic Products in relation to natural health products: 

‘to protect, promote, and improve the health of all New Zealanders by providing for the—… 

acceptable safety and quality of natural health products across their life-cycle. 

but we consider that the Bill is written primarily from a western reductionist viewpoint, considering natural health products rather than natural health systems: 

  1. Much of the Bill is concerned with defining therapeutic products and decisions on this will be made by experts in the field.  Soil & Health is concerned that registered naturopaths, medical herbalists and homeopaths are not included as health practitioners under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, nor are they recognised as experts in natural health products in this Bill. In contrast pharmacists are recognised in the Bill and sell natural products although they are not trained as experts in this field.  

We recommend that the Naturopaths & Medical Herbalists of NZ (Inc).(NMHNZ)(https://naturopath.org.nz), New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists (NZAMH) (https://nzamh.org.nz/) and the New Zealand Council of Homeopaths (https://homeopathy.co.nz/) be recognised as responsible authorities under the HPCAA and that those registered by these authorities be included in the Bill as NHP practitioners. 

  1. The Bill allows for the definition of natural health products to include synthetic ingredients and additives. 

We recommend synthetic ingredients and additives be limited to 5% of the product and controlled. 

  1. The Bill also allows for exceptions to the requirement for regulations for low concentration natural health products. 

Soil & Health recommends that the risk assessment of dilute NHPs such as homeopathic remedies apply not to the origin of the remedies (whether plant, mineral or animal), but instead to the final products, which contain no DNA and therefore no disease risk.  

  1. We recognise that large manufacturers of natural health products want and need regulations for export. BUT it is our view that these market regulations should not apply to the domestic market.   

We recommend that a list of prohibited ingredients be developed for the domestic market.   

  1. The Bill currently applies to rongoā.   

We recommend that the Bill not proceed until there is a Tiriti-based process in place for rongoā. 

  1. The Bill does not provide any protection for source ingredients.   

Soil & Health recommends that plant ingredients be harvested in a way that protects their sustainability and avoids depletion of any endangered species. 

Submission of the Soil & Health Association on definitions for gene technology and new breeding techniques

The Soil & Health Association welcomes the opportunity to submit on this proposal to revise and update the definitions in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) for ‘food produced using gene technology’ and ‘gene technology’, to make them clearer and to better reflect existing and emerging genetic technologies, including new breeding techniques (NBTs)

Read our full submission here.

Submission of the Soil & Health Association on the Emissions Reduction Plan

Our submission focuses on agriculture and organic waste and states that more can be done, sooner, by supporting a faster transition to regenerative organic farming. 

Emissions from organic waste and from agriculture can be reduced through conversion of farming to regenerative organic systems alongside better organic waste collection and processing for composting and soil-building.  

To do this the government needs to prioritise support for existing available solutions such as organics rather than focusing on new technologies. We agree that rural extension services, research and better waste regulation are key tools to deliver this change.    

Read our full submission here.

EPA Call for Information on glyphosate, September 2021

Summary of our submission

A GLYPHOSATE RISK ASSESSMENT IS NEEDED URGENTLY

We welcome the opportunity to respond to this Call for Information on glyphosate.

We submit that Aotearoa New Zealand urgently needs a genuine risk assessment of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (commercial products containing glyphosate and other chemicals) that are being sold and used in this country.

New Zealand has never conducted a risk assessment of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs). This Call for Information effectively delays the long overdue risk assessment of GBHs

This delay pushes back appropriate regulatory measures that might be enacted as a response to risk assessment to protect health.

SURVEY OF COUNCIL USE OF GLYPHOSATE

Our submission includes survey information collected from territorial and regional authorities around the country about their current use of GBHs.

This survey demonstrates both the widespread use of GBHs and the increasing community pressure to eliminate GBHs

THERE ARE KNOWN HEALTH RISKS FROM GLYPHOSATE

There are known health risks of GBHs to humans, domesticated animals, and to aquatic and terrestrial wildlife.

We provide evidence of these risks our submission document.

Given its widespread use, producers and consumers cannot be confident they’re avoiding GBH health risks under the current regulations.

We urge the government to take a strict precautionary approach.

GLYPHOSATE USE LEADS TO INCREASING HERBICIDE RESISTANCE

Herbicide resistance – including resistance to GBHs – is a growing problem globally and here in New Zealand.

Herbicide resistance is leading to the use of several different herbicides together or in rotation.

Farmers and growers (conventional as well as organic) are increasingly seeking safe non-chemical weed management options.

Organic producers are able to successfully employ a range of non-toxic methods of weed management, reducing herbicide resistance pressure

ECONOMIC RISKS OF GLYPHOSATE-BASED HERBICIDES

International demand for safe, healthy food is strong and growing. Our international markets are extremely sensitive to pesticide residues.

For example Japan has rejected New Zealand honey imports this year due to glyphosate residues.

SOIL & HEALTH’S GLYPHOSATE PETITION

We need our Government to hear our concerns, and to that end have established a petition. For further information, and to sign the petition, please see here.

Supporters of our petition are calling on the government to:

  1. Ban the use of glyphosate in public places and around waterways;
  2. Ban foliar sprays (pre-harvest) of glyphosate formulations on human and animal feed crops; and
  3. Conduct a first-ever risk assessment of the active ingredient glyphosate, and the retail formulation sold in shops, using independent published and openly available scientific data.

OUR FULL SUBMISSION

Included in our submission are

Submission on application APP203660 To reassess methyl bromide

29 August 2019

Environmental Protection Authority

Private Bag 63002

Wellington 6140

New Zealand

Submission on application APP203660

To reassess methyl bromide

Introduction

1.   The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand Inc. (“Soil & Health”) is a charitable society registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908. It is the largest membership organization supporting organic food and farming in New Zealand and is one of the oldest organic organisations in the world, established in 1941. Soil & Health’s objectives are to promote sustainable organic agricultural practices and the principles of good health based on sound nutrition and the maxim: “Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people”. Its membership is chiefly composed of home gardeners and consumers, organic farmers and growers, secondary producers, retailers and restaurateurs. Soil & Health publishes the bi-monthly ‘Organic NZ’ magazine – New Zealand’s leading organics magazine.

2.   Soil & Health makes this submission on the application by Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction Inc (STIMBR)  to reassess methyl bromide a fumigant which among other things is used on export timber and logs.

3.   Soil & Health accepts the need for fumigation to meet the phytosanitary needs of New Zealand and other countries, should safer methods of pest control not be effective, and if communities and the broader environment are protected from any adverse effects from the fumigant.

4.   The EPA in 2018 allowed the possibility of a reassessment application;

Grounds to reassess were granted based on data that evidenced New Zealand’s use of the fumigant has increased from over 400 tonnes a year in 2010, to more than 600 tonnes in 2016. One of the criteria required to be met to meet grounds for reassessment under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, is a significant change in the quantity of a substance imported into or manufactured in New Zealand.’

5.     Soil & Health believe that reassessment criteria was used inappropriately, as that increased use was totally predicted at the last reassessment with conditions of use and the recapture deadline made in that knowledge. It is misleading to use increased use to allow another reassessment to effectively excuse the log export industry out of their environmental and public health responsibilities, when those responsibilities were clearly defined in 2010.

6.     Soil & Health submitted to the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) for the reassessment of methyl bromide in 2010 and has campaigned since to have that fumigant better contained and recaptured or stopped.

7.     Those campaigns along with other community, union, and environmental groups have meant that methyl bromide fumigation without recapture is no longer used at log exporting facilities in several ports, notably Nelson, Picton and Wellington. However the problems of worker exposure and release of the atmospheric ozone depleting gas have mostly just shifted north to the ports of Napier, Tauranga, and Marsden Point-Whangarei.

8.     This submission writer, later in another role as a Section 274 Party, won an Environment Court case, Envirofume Limited vs Bay of Plenty Regional Council [2017] NZEnv 12. That case, contested for the applicant Envirofume by legal counsel Helen Atkins (Chairperson of the 2010 ERMA methyl bromide re-assessment), exposed further the significant risks of methyl bromide fumigations for the health and safety of workers and nearby communities.

9.     The log exporter industry through STIMBR have variously used public funding as in the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) funding to look at mostly predictably unlikely alternatives to recapturing residual methyl bromide, while obfuscating attempts at log stack trials of existing recapture technology using carbon filters as available from Nordiko.

10.  STIMBR supported Draslovka who applied for an alternative fumigant ethanedinitrile (EDN) which the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) appear to be taking seriously in negotiations with log importing countries as an alternative to methyl bromide, on the premise that recapture will not be necessary should EDN be approved, as it is not subject to the Montreal Protocol.

11.  Soil & Health submitted in opposition to EDN due to the known risks, and the lack of environmental and safety data, and that the applicant and STIMBR’s approach that recapture would not be required, although in Australia, EDN can ONLY be used with scrubbing (a recapture) technology as part of its label use after being assessed by the national regulatory body there, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).

12.  Soil & Health is concerned that government agencies such as MPI might be looking at the EPA as a rubber-stamping agency for compounds such as EDN with such confidence that they are putting EDN as an option for fumigation to countries including India and China. Soil & Health is concerned that industry’s economic benefits appear to become paramount over the need of worker, community and environmental health in the decision making around fumigants approval and their use.

13.  However, the EPA has decided to process this application by STIMBR as a modified reassessment rather than forcing the previous reassessment’s requirement of recapture onto the users of methyl bromide fumigation.

The Tauranga example:

14.  While economic considerations are included in the benefits analysis by the EPA, the ability to pay for appropriate safeguards must be included in any analysis, not just the significant earnings the industry generates. All stakeholders including port companies should be part of ensuring the ultimate safety of workers, community and environment.

15.  In the Environment Court case, Envirofume Limited vs Bay of Plenty Regional Council [2017] NZEnv 12, it was noted that Port of Tauranga Limited (POTL) was missing in action as such during those proceedings although was the owner and operator of the port where the log fumigation activity under scrutiny was taking place.

16.  The community and Soil & Health have long called for dedicated fumigation facilities incorporating recapture technology to be constructed and used, yet POTL continue to discount any such possibility there.

17. Soil & Health points out that POTL has just announced its largest profit ever (end of year June 2019). Increasing 6.7% on last year’s profit of $94.3 million to reach $100.6 million, with log export volumes increasing during that time 12.5% to 7.1 million tonnes. http://www.port-tauranga.co.nz/growth-in-cargo-volumes-contributes-to-increased-profit-for-port-of-tauranga-limited/

While that growth is expected to ease in the short term, POTL is still the country’s largest export log exporter, close to twice its nearest rival Whangarei.

18.  Log exports through POTL for the year ending December 2017 were valued at $968,919,331, almost a staggering billion dollars towards a third of New Zealand’s log export value that year of $3,058,737,889 and yet the port company and log exporting interests continue to deny workers, the community and environment the benefits of recapture.

  1. Safeguards to protect people and the environment are becoming more important and need greater attention as increasing development and presence of toxins including fumigants in the environment become more common.

20.  Soil & Health submits that the money is there for fast correction of the shortcomings in facilities and responsible management of log and timber fumigation in New Zealand.

Monitoring and modelling

  1. Methyl bromide is a risk well beyond fumigation areas due to drift, inversion layers, and the inability by those responsible to adequately monitor its whereabouts. Boundary monitoring is pointless if at head height, when a fumigant plume passes above it and then descends or drifts into other areas.

22.  Air modelling techniques cannot fully give assurances about where and at what concentrations methyl bromide will be once released from containers, log stacks or ships holds. Modelling can at best be a best estimate, but the topography of the fumigation surrounds is continually changing with log or container stacks, ships size and presence, and weather variables, including humidity, temperature of air, objects and ground all obfuscating the best air modelling estimates.

  1. There is no sure air monitoring possibility, or method for the safe release of methyl bromide in the port and coastal marine area. A previous Environment Court in Nelson noted the possibility for “monitoring devices to miss the most concentrated area of the plume, or even the plume in its entirety, and in fact on four out of seven attempts to sample air quality in Port Nelson during 2003-2004 this had occurred in varying degrees” (Env Court Interim Decision para 50).

24.  Soil & Health notes STIMBR’s intent that recapture of fumigant from ships holds be delayed significantly, another 10 years, yet ships’ holds are where the most significant volumes of methyl bromide are used. The communities near the ports of Napier, Tauranga and Mt Maunganui, and Marsden Point (Whangarei port), and potentially elsewhere in New Zealand will be further exposed to the toxicity of methyl bromide, and the damage to the ozone layer will continue.

25.  Other port workers, not involved in fumigation but working nearby, may also be exposed to the methyl bromide, particularly when the methyl bromide is released into the atmosphere following fumigation, but also during accidental and spontaneous release, as happens with methyl bromide most years, at most log stack fumigating ports. Log stack fumigations under tarpaulins are subject to strong wind events and accidental tarpaulin puncturing. Both Genera and Envirofume fumigation operators have had log stack tarpaulins rent with spontaneous release of methyl bromide.  Dedicated permanent fumigation structures would eliminate the risk of tarpaulin failure.

Worker and community safety

  1. In the Environment Court decision Envirofume Limited vs Bay of Plenty Regional Council, [2017] NZEnv 12, the court observed the large range of port users that may be exposed inadvertently to the methyl bromide fumigant. [1]
  2. That Court found significant shortcomings in the current methyl bromide fumigations. EPA and Work Safe requirements are either impractical or are frequently breached.
  3. Whatever toxic fumigant is used for log, timber and other fumigations, it must be in a dedicated facility with recapture of remnant fumigant, such as is used at Port Nelson. Methyl bromide was linked at that port with the deaths of six men from motor neurone disease. Alternative fumigants such as EDN have their own array of serious health risks. Recapture technology exists but industry individually and collectively has mostly avoided its use for economic reasons.

Ozone depletion

  1. Continuance of methyl bromide release means further atmospheric ozone depletion, and New Zealand’s intentional breach of responsibility to its Montreal Protocol obligations, where although phytosanitary requirements allow some continued use of methyl bromide, there is an obligation to be reducing its use. ERMA allowed a continuance of damaging release into the atmosphere in 2010 with the knowledge that there would be a significant increase in methyl bromide use.
  2. Dr Olaf Morgenstern – Programme leader (Climate Variability and Change) NIWA for the writer at the Environment Court outlined the significance of that release in world terms, with New Zealand being the highest user per capita. That should not continue if we are concerned about climate effects and the health of people and environment, or economically if our international, including trading, clean green branding reputation is to be valued.

Health effects.

  1. Most people acknowledge the very real danger of methyl bromide from both acute and chronic exposures, and both acute and chronic effects. A recent although limited US study recently published in the Journal of Asthmareported a positive association between methyl-bromide concentrations and asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits among youths between the ages of 6 and 18 years in California.
  2. After adjusting for the presence of other pollutants, humidity, and meteorological conditions, each 0.01-ppb increase in methyl-bromide concentration was associated with a 7.1% (95% CI, 2.9%-10.8%) greater likelihood of an asthma-related ED visit.
  3. That science will need more work but further shows the need for recapture if real precaution is to be used.

The solution – dedicated containment and recapture.

  1. Responsibility for dedicated containment and recapture facilities was considered by the Environment Court to require an integrated approach:

[130] Overall, our view is that this matter requires an integrated approach from the Port of Tauranga, the marshalling/stevedoring companies, the forestry industry and the fumigators to adopt an approach for the safe application of methyl bromide and the recapture of all reasonable emissions. This would probably require a dedicated area for fumigation, and may involve a building or other system that seeks to encapsulate and recapture gas. We are not satisfied that the introduction of another company into the Tauranga market is going to bring about those changes. In our view, the advance towards reduction of emissions has seen little progress since the 1990s, and the Court is surprised to see that there is approximately ten times as much methyl bromide being applied in Tauranga as there was in the 1990s.

  1. Regardless of the possibility of an alternative fumigant, industry including port companies and possibly government need to bite the bullet and install dedicated facilities for fumigations and recapture.
  2. The ERMA 2010 methyl bromide re-assessment inappropriately and possibly illegally set a very late 2020 date for recapture of that fumigant to meet Montreal Protocol requirements of phasing out methyl bromide emissions. The EPA must now insist on dedicated fumigation facilities and recapture always, if the EPA is to meet its statutory requirements.
  3. Soil & Health supports the substantive submission of the Combined Trade Unions, and is in general agreement of the fumigation context and need for stronger and certain safety conditions as supplied by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.
  4. Soil & Health submits that the evidence as attached and provided by expert witnesses for the writer for the Envirofume Environment Court case be considered by the EPA. That included evidence by an epidemiologist Dr Dave McLean from the Centre for Public Health Research, Dr Olaf Morgenstern – Programme leader (Climate Variability and Change) NIWA, and Jayne Metcalfe an air scientist.

Conclusion.

39.  Soil & Health seek that the current application be declined.

40.  Should the application be granted, dedicated fumigation facilities and recapture must be required.

41.  Soil & Health wish to be heard in support of our submission and welcome any questions of the writer for clarification or further information.

Yours sincerely

Steffan Browning

021 804 223

greeny25@xtra.co.nz

Position: National Councillor

The Soil & Health Association

PO Box 9693,

Marion Square,

Wellington, 6141

Email: advocacy@organicnz.org.nz

Website: www.organicnz.org.nz

[1] https://www.environmentcourt.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Decisions/2017-NZEnvC-012-Envirofume-v-Bay-of-Plenty-Regional-Council.pdf

Submission on an organic standard in New Zealand.

 11 June 2018

 

Ministry for Primary Industries

PO Box 2526

Wellington 6140

 

Submission on MPI Discussion Paper N0: 2018/19

Background

1.    The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand Inc. (“Soil & Health”) is a charitable society registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908. It is the largest membership organization supporting organic food and farming in New Zealand and is one of the oldest organic organisations in the world, established in 1941. Soil & Health’s objectives are to promote sustainable organic agricultural practices and the principles of good health based on sound nutrition and the maxim: “Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people”. Its membership is chiefly composed of home gardeners and consumers, organic farmers and growers, secondary producers, retailers and restaurateurs. Soil & Health publishes the bi-monthly ‘Organic NZ’ magazine – New Zealand’s leading organics magazine.

Introduction

2.    Soil & Health welcome the opportunity to comment on the MPI Discussion Paper “Would New Zealand benefit from new organic regulation?” (“Discussion Paper”). However, we are concerned that the consultation and submission period was both at short notice and for a relatively short time. Organisations throughout the sector will have had difficulty to have appropriate discussions among their members and members including both consumers and organic licensees. We reserve the right at Select Committee and further consultation to further refine our position.

  1. To know our food is safe, free from contamination and harmful residues is a fundamental human right. However, the right to know exactly what we are eating is often taken away and even routinely denied to us. While growing our own food remains the best way to ensure that we know what we are eating and how it is grown, we must also know what has been sprayed onto crops and soil, added to foods, and used in the processing of the food we purchase. There is a growing awareness in society of how food determines health and people are now demanding to know what is in their food and how it is grown. Safeguards to protect people and the environment are becoming more important and need greater attention as the presence of toxins in the environment become more common.

 

  1. Soil & Health is committed to advocating for transparent and honest food labelling in New Zealand. We believe that transparent food labelling is fundamental in allowing people to make informed choices. We believe that everyone has a right to safe and nutritious food that is grown in a way that enhances the environment. This covers the right to have food free from microbial contamination, harmful organisms, pesticides, harmful chemicals and heavy metal contaminants, harmful additives, irradiation and genetic engineering. We believe in the right of people to equip themselves with the knowledge to make informed food choices. This is only achievable through clear and transparent food labelling.

 

  1. Soil & Health as an organisation that advocates for organics, is a strong supporter of organic certification as it provides a verification system for consumers that ensures that the food product they are purchasing is produced according to specific organic standards. Consumers can trust food or other products that are labelled as certified organic, because they are subject to rigorous audits to ensure their safety and integrity. Most importantly it helps to ensure that businesses do not deceive or mislead consumers through false representation or false information when labelling themselves as organic. We consider certification important as it supports consumers in making informed choices about organic food.

 

  1. Currently there are several different organic certification agencies in New Zealand which all have their own standards and labels. Labels however can be confusing for consumers as there can be many different ones used on food products, for example, regulated and accredited ones like the Heart Foundation tick, or some companies creating labels such as ‘vegan’ or ‘100% natural’. As stated in the Executive Summary of the Discussion Paper, consumers have a mixed understanding about what these claims mean. People want clean, safe food, and are increasingly turning to organic foods and products. Many farmers and producers are responding to demand and producing high quality, certified organic products. But there are a few producers claiming their products are organic when in fact they are not. Some producers may be unintentionally misleading consumers; others may be deliberately using the word organic as part of their marketing strategy to sell more product and/or at a higher price. While consumers are protected by the Fair Trading Act 1986, which requires producers to be able to substantiate any claims that they are making on their products, the absence of a single definition in New Zealand of what organic means makes enforcement difficult. Furthermore, with no government oversight of organic standards, and no national standard to protect the word ‘organic’, the integrity of the organic industry as a whole is compromised.

 

  1. Soil & Health therefore strongly supports the proposal to introduce a mandatory National Organic Standard and associated regulatory regime for organic production. A fundamental point for Soil & Health in developing a single National Organic Standard is to reduce consumer confusion that is created when there are multiple certification agencies. Creating a single National Organic Standard for organics in New Zealand would help to reduce consumer confusion and boost consumer confidence in organic labelled food. It would also put us in step with nearly all of the top 25 organic exporting nations. This will give comfort not only in New Zealand but to export markets as well and will make exports easier.

 

  1. However, regulations which would follow adoption of a single National Organic Standard should not disadvantage small growers. While all relevant businesses should comply with the National Organic Standard there should be provision for a lesser burden of verification on smaller scale growers and producers where the cost would be disproportionate to the benefit. We therefore support exemptions that support smaller growers and produces who typically supply local markets and direct to their consumers. We recognise that among the myriad of reasons for supporting smaller producers is the fact that before big producers were big they generally were small, and we must support them in order to foster the growth of the organic industry. Effective exemptions must still require a claim of ‘organic’ to be meeting the National Organic Standard, and examples exist for on-line registration, or affidavits of compliance for operators below a certain monetary threshold.

 

Discussion Paper Questions

 

Part 1: Introduction, purpose and context

 

  1. Do you agree or disagree with the proposed scope? Are there any other products, for example aquaculture products, that should be considered? Please specify.

 

We generally agree with the proposed scope so long as this is recognised as merely a starting point. However, some aquaculture products, both salmon and mussels, have previously been certified organic in New Zealand, so it is important that aquaculture would be covered by regulation of organics to ensure inappropriate claims are not made.

 

The scope is currently limited to primary and processed products and we recognise this is a good place to start from as they form a large part of New Zealand’s organic production. However, as the development of the regulations progress other products might need to be included for example, it is also not clear whether cosmetics, body care products and textiles are included in the scope.

 

  1. To what extent do you agree with the description of the current context for organics? Please explain why.

 

We agree. The market information provided is consistent with reports produced by Organics Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the description lacks any information about or acknowledgement of New Zealand’s current GE-free status and the market advantages that this provides. The use of GE or GMOs is prohibited in organic products, and products cannot be labelled certified organic if they contain GMOs. The global Non-GMO market is at US$550 billion,[1] and trends show this is only going to grow.

 

Of New Zealand’s five key trading partners, three have non-GMO labelling regulations.[2] New Zealand has a market with these countries due to the perception and the fact that no GMO seeds are currently being cultivated in New Zealand. China is the largest trading partner with dairy being the largest single export. In 2014 NZ$5.3 billion of dairy products were exported to China.[3]

 

What is also important to mention is that organic and sustainable agriculture is the highest value added agricultural market with over US$80 billion worldwide sold as organic in 2014.[4] New Zealand primary industries are looking for ways to export value-added products as they move away from commodity-based trading. The collapse of the dairy industry in 2015 and the rise of tourism as the largest contributor to New Zealand’s GDP indicate an over-reliance on a narrow range of commodities. Federated Farmers sponsored a number of speakers during their national conference on 1-3 July 2015 in Wellington, who shared the view that value added agriculture is important to the resilience of the industry.

 

  1. To what extent do you agree with the description of the current regulatory environment for organics? Please explain why?

 

We agree with the description of the current regulatory environment for organics, namely that they are not regulated at all. One could conclude that MPI’s Official Organic Assurance Programme (“OOAP”) Technical Rules have by default become a national organic export standard. However, the OOAP Technical Rules is an export one and run through MPI with the Organic Export Association of New Zealand. While the process is consultative, it is hardly representative of the wider organic sector in New Zealand and is focused solely on exports.

 

It must also be noted that over decades the BioGro NZ standard has been run by its Society’s members and licensees who have contributed to its development through standards and certification committees. It has had significant voluntary input and provided a chance to review the impact of decisions on growers, input providers etc.  Soil & Health also contributed to this largely as the consumer voice on all boards. However, this process of keeping the standard up to date is is exhausting on resources and the voluntary base.

 

  1. Do you agree that this is a good opportunity to change the way organics are currently regulated in New Zealand? In your opinion, what needs to change? Please explain why.

 

We agree that this is a good opportunity to change the way organics are regulated in New Zealand. The current unregulated environment undermines the credibility of certified organic products produced in New Zealand and this needs to change. Organic licensees, the retail sector and the public are confused and often have a poor understanding of what organic means, or the implications of false claims. Regulation should aim to protect consumers from fraudulent claims and protect producers from unfair competition (products with false claims), thereby building the credibility of organic products produced in New Zealand. There is also an opportunity to rationalise other activities like auditor training, and upskilling, technical development, certification management and to develop a common national mark.

 

  1. Do you think that the appropriate objectives for a new organic regime have been identified? What would you suggest a new regime should achieve? Please explain why.

 

We agree with the objectives outlined however question whether the regulatory regime needs to be flexible.

 

We consider that the new regime should endorse and protect the status of existing New Zealand certifiers. The regime should enable certifiers to set higher standards (above the regulation) should they want to. It should also allow for equivalency between New Zealand produced and certified imported organic products provided the certification standards are at least equivalent to the New Zealand regulation. Soil & Health strongly supports the Participatory Guarantee Systems such as OrganicFarmNZ to be recognised as a credible certification pathway.

 

Part 2: Options for how a new regime for organics could work

 

  1. Do you think that a standard setting out requirements for production methods would be best suited to organic production? Please explain why.

 

Yes, because organics also has environmental and sustainability outcomes, not just food safety outcomes. Production methods are important because of the benefits to the environment as well as end product qualities.

 

Issue 1: Should a new standard be voluntary?

 

  1. Do you think that the correct options have been identified? Are there alternative option(s) that should be considered? Please describe.

 

Yes, we agree that the correct options have been identified. We do not propose any other alternatives.

 

  1. Are there positive or negative impacts of any options that are not described? Please describe any impacts that we’ve missed.

 

Cost is a significant concern to all organic growers and producers but most especially to small-scale growers and producers suppling local markets direct to the consumers. Small-scale growers and producers are important for the support of fresh organic products to New Zealand consumers and therefore any new regulations which would follow adoption of a single standard must not penalise them through unnecessary compliance costs.

 

The importance of genuine organic consumers expectations needs to be considered in the structure of Standards setting/maintenance body, and stakeholders groups. The importance of the consumer guarantee aspect of organic regulation must be reflected in significant organic consumer representation, which Soil & Health has experience of.

 

There are a number of overseas examples of standards maintenance groups that have been dominated by business interests that have not reflected genuine organic consumers and licensees’ interests, for example USDA now includes an option for ‘organic’ hydroponic production, although hydroponics by design does not meet New Zealand organic requirements, nor organic consumer expectations that organic production is soil based.

 

At one consultation, it was suggested that legislation for organic regulation would be likely be ahead of standards group representation being consulted on. It is therefore necessary to ensure that a minimum representation outline is included in the primary legislation to ensure organic consumers will be an effective part of standards setting and maintenance.

 

  1. If a standard became mandatory for all organic operations, what would be the positive and/or negative impacts on you or your business?

 

If mandatory the system should not be designed so that it constrains or prevents alternative certification systems being developed and recognised. A mandatory standard would be acceptable if it allowed for small-scale growers and producers to continue to function without unfair constraints and allowed the opportunity of lower cost Participatory Guarantee System certification.

 

For an organic consumer guarantee with integrity, the degree of organic consumer representation on the standards setting/maintenance group will potentially dictate either positive or negative outcomes. Soil & Health is probably the most visible advocate for New Zealand organic consumers.

 

  1. To what extent do you support or oppose the use of a logo to help distinguish organic products from non-organic products? Please explain why.

 

We support the development of a national logo provided it can be accessed by local and small-scale market growers and producers, not just larger scale operators that export.

 

Issue 2: How should we check that relevant businesses meet the standard?

 

  1. Do you think that the correct options have been identified? Are there alternative option(s) that should be considered? Please describe.

 

We consider that the correct options have been identified.

 

  1. Are there positive of negative impacts of any options that are not described in the above section? Please describe any impacts that we’ve missed.

 

No other positive or negative options are suggested.

 

  1. If ongoing verification (with limited exemptions) was used to check compliance, what would be the positive and/or negative impacts on you or your business?

 

As stated previously local and small-scale operators should not be disadvantaged. Costs relating to MPI regulatory requirements in other sectors have frequently been described as prohibitive to small businesses, and although some changes have been made for example raw milk cheeses, there is a strong cost recovery model in existence using high salary and travel fees. Regulation and compliance in that context threatens small producers if exemptions are not set sensitively.

 

Home gardeners that garden organically and would meet the National Organic Standard, should they be commercial, must also be able to describe their home grown produce as organic, whether sold or not. Such situations could include A&P Show vegetable competitions or descriptions in a newspaper article. Compliance could be by external interests checking against an affidavit or online registration if necessary, and complaints lodged with MPI or the accredited agency.

 

  1. If some businesses were not required to be verified on an ongoing basis, what do you think the criteria for exemption could be? For example, method of sale, annual turnover, volume sold, others…

 

If exemptions are to be allowed, then conditions on which they are based should be clearly defined, for example if there are multiple companies held by a single owner they should not be allowed to all be exempt (all should be verified).

 

Summary of proposals

 

  1. To what extend do you support this combination? Please explain why.

 

We strongly support the combination of Option 1C: mandatory compliance for all relevant businesses, and Option 2C: ongoing verification, with limited exceptions.

 

We support Option 1C due to the level of certainty and transparency that it provides to both businesses and consumers about what the definition of organic means. Under this option, whether or not a product is certified, consumers can be sure that if it is labelled organic then it means the same as certified organic as both terms must meet the National Organic Standard. This is significant for consumers who are too often sold products as organic, even though the grower/producer is not subject to any checks that their claim is authentic. If a producer uses the term organic to sell their system should be able to be verified in some way.

 

However, many of our members are small-scale organic growers and producers who only sell their products locally, direct to their consumers. Their growing and production standards meet that of certification standards, yet they choose not to become certified due to the costs and effort involved. Some growers and producers prefer to remain small-scale and want to keep their costs down in order to keep their products affordable. Certification would be an extra cost that they may not be able to meet unless they scaled up. For them to have to change their labels from “organic” to “spray-free” simply because they are not certified, despite meeting a certification standard, would not be fair on them. We consider that the integrity of certified organic is not compromised by these types of growers using the term organic.

 

Therefore, we also support Option 2C in that while all businesses that label their products organic would need to comply with the standard, not all businesses would be required to have their activities independently verified on an ongoing basis, or certified. The integrity of organics would still be maintained as any grower/producer, small or large, that defines their product as organic would be subject to enforcement action if it was shown that they were not meeting the standard. We also support the proposal to introduce measures that reduce compliance costs for small-scale businesses if and when needed through for example group certification or by adjusting the audit frequency.

 

  1. What changes or impacts would this combination of options involve for you and/or your organisation?

 

For our members and for consumers of organic products there will be benefits as the baseline standards will be clearly defined.

 

  1. What would be your preferred combination of options? This can include any listed options and any other possible option not listed.

 

We have already stated our preferred option – that being Option 1C and Option 2C.

 

Part 3: If needed, proposed features of empowering legislation

 

  1. Have the powers required to implement a new regime been correctly identified? Are there any other components you think would be necessary?

 

Those already certified (BioGro NZ/Asure Quality/OFNZ/Demeter) we consider are already following what will become the National Organic Standard – the process for how they become integrated needs to be clear and separate to those not already certified. We consider that MPI should recognise agencies not individuals.

 

As commented in Q8; At one consultation, it was suggested that legislation for organic regulation would be likely ahead of standards group representation being consulted on. It is therefore necessary to ensure that a minimum representation outline is included in the primary legislation to ensure organic consumers will be an effective part of standards setting and maintenance.

 

  1. Do you have any comments on the range of proposed compliance and enforcement tools?

 

We consider that minor non-compliances should be handled appropriately and be dependent on the level of the organic integrity of their products and the risk to consumer expectations and health.

 

  1. Do you have any other comments about the proposed legislation settings?

 

We consider that the legislation must allow for new certifiers and other certification systems (that can demonstrate compliance to the National Organic Standard) to be recognised. Legislation must include minimum requirements of the structure of standards groups and representation and include an expectation of GMO free food and production.

 

Part 4: General comments and next steps

 

  1. What evidence should be examined to inform further analysis of this proposal?

 

We consider that the affordability of the ‘product’ in terms of the comparative costings from similar situations should be considered from both export and local market certification options.

 

Options from overseas, particularly around exemptions, affidavits and online registrations, what financial thresholds or other measures are used.

 

  1. If you have any other comments or suggestions, please let us know.

 

For an organic supply chain there can be several steps (actors handling product) – organic oversight should be sustained along with the whole supply chain.

Yours sincerely

 

Name: Lucy Blackbourn

Position: Acting General Manager

 

The Soil & Health Association

PO Box 9693

Marion Square

Wellington, 6141

Website: www.organicnz.org.nz

[1] http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/packaged-facts-global-non-gmo-food–beverage-market-reaches550-billion-us-sales-at-200-billion-300127127.html

[2] http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-in-profile-2015/trading-partners.aspx

[3] http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/imports_and_exports/global-nz-jun-14/keypoints.asp

[4] https://shop.fibl.org/fileadmin/documents/shop/1698-organic-world-2016.pdf

Submission to the EPA on the use of ethanedinitrile (EDN) as a fumigant

Submission to the EPA on the use of ethanedinitrile (EDN) as a fumigant

Introduction

1. The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand Inc. (“Soil & Health”) is a charitable society
registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908. It is the largest membership
organization supporting organic food and farming in New Zealand and is one of the
oldest organic organisations in the world, established in 1941. Soil & Health’s objectives
are to promote sustainable organic agricultural practices and the principles of good
health based on sound nutrition and the maxim: “Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy
people”. Its membership is chiefly composed of home gardeners and consumers,
organic farmers and growers, secondary producers, retailers and restaurateurs. Soil &
Health publishes the bi-monthly ‘Organic NZ’ magazine – New Zealand’s leading
organics magazine.

2. Soil & Health makes this submission on the application to import ethanedinitrile (EDN),
a fumigant for use on timber/logs under commercial conditions, requesting that the
application be declined.

3. Soil & Health submitted to the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) for
the reassessment of methyl bromide and has campaigned to have that fumigant better
contained and recaptured or stopped. Our then spokesperson Steffan Browning, has
later in another role as a Section 274 Party, won an Environment Court case Envirofume
Limited vs Bay of Plenty Regional Council [2017] NZEnv 12. That case, contested for the
applicant Envirofume by legal counsel Helen Atkins (Chairperson of the 2010 ERMA
methyl bromide re-assessment), exposed significant risks of methyl bromide
fumigations for the health and safety of workers and nearby communities. We consider
that due to its known toxicity EDN would be no better for those people potentially
exposed, both at the fumigation workplace and further away.

 

Detailed submission

4. Safeguards to protect people and the environment are becoming more important and
need greater attention as increasing development and the presence of toxins and
fumigants in the environment become more common.

5. We are aware that EDN is promoted as a ‘new’ fumigant showing great potential as a
replacement for the ozone-depleting fumigant methyl bromide, and that an extensive
review of scientific literature commissioned by Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide
Reduction (STIMBR) in 2014 found EDN was the only potential fumigant alternative to
methyl bromide as a phytosanitary treatment for forest products. Research conducted
by Plant and Food Research has also confirmed that EDN is an effective phytosanitary
treatment for insects associated with New Zealand forest products.

6. In Australia, EDN can ONLY be used with scrubbing (a recapture) technology as part of
its label use after being assessed by the national regulatory body Australian Pesticides
and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). It is our understanding however that
Draslovka are trying to register the product in New Zealand, without liquid scrubbing or
another recapture method.

7. Attached to this submission is the public release summary from the APVMA on the
evaluation of EDN. Refer to page 26, under critical comments: “Residual gas must be
scrubbed for a minimum of 4 hours using a liquid scrubbing system at the completion of
the fumigation period, followed by a further 24 hours of ventilation prior to clearance.”

8. EDN is not ozone depleting, unlike methyl bromide. Regardless, if this application for
EDN importation and use is granted, EDN will still need containment and recapture, like
any of these noxious gases, rather than being released into the wider environment.

9. EDN, just as with methyl bromide, will be a risk well beyond fumigation areas due to
drift, inversion layers, and the inability for its whereabouts to be adequately monitored
by those responsible. Boundary monitoring is ineffective if at head height, when a
fumigant plume passes above it and then descends or drifts into other areas.

10. EDN is highly toxic and fumigation workers may be exposed to the highly toxic product
just as with methyl bromide when: • opening fumigant cylinder valves, • removing tarp covers for ventilation, • opening and entering shipping containers, • leakage from damaged (leaking) fumigant delivery lines, or when handling
fumigated timber.

11. Other port workers, not involved in fumigation but working nearby, may also be
exposed to the EDN, particularly when the EDN is released into the atmosphere
following fumigation, but also during accidental and spontaneous release, as happens
with methyl bromide most years, at most log stack fumigating ports. Log stack
fumigations under tarpaulins are subject to strong wind events and accidental tarpaulin
puncturing. Both Genera and Envirofume fumigation operators have had log stack
tarpaulins rent, resulting in the spontaneous release of methyl bromide.

12. In the Environment Court decision Envirofume Limited vs Bay of Plenty Regional Council
[2017] NZEnv 12, the court observed the large range of port users who may be exposed
inadvertently to the methyl bromide fumigant. EDN will have the same risks of
exposure for workers and passersby.

13. That Court found significant shortcomings in the current methyl bromide fumigations.
EPA and Work Safe requirements are either impractical or are frequently breached.

14. EDN gives no better assurance of safety than methyl bromide.

15. Whatever toxic fumigant is used for log, timber and other fumigations, it must be in a
dedicated facility with recapture of remnant fumigant, such as is used at Port Nelson.
Methyl bromide was linked at that port with the deaths of six men from motor neurone
disease. EDN has its own array of serious health risks. Recapture technology exists but
industry individually and collectively has mostly avoided its use for economic reasons.

16. Responsibility for dedicated containment and recapture facilities was considered by the
Court to require an integrated approach:

[130] Overall, our view is that this matter requires an integrated approach from
the Port of Tauranga, the marshalling/stevedoring companies, the forestry
industry and the fumigators to adopt an approach for the safe application of
methyl bromide and the recapture of all reasonable emissions. This would
probably require a dedicated area for fumigation, and may involve a building or
other system that seeks to encapsulate and recapture gas. We are not satisfied
that the introduction of another company into the Tauranga market is going to
bring about those changes. In our view, the advance towards reduction of
emissions has seen little progress since the 1990s, and the Court is surprised to
see that there is approximately ten times as much methyl bromide being applied
in Tauranga as there was in the 1990s.

17. The ERMA 2010 methyl bromide reassessment inappropriately, and possibly illegally, set
a very late 2020 date for recapture of that fumigant to meet Montreal Protocol
requirements of phasing out methyl bromide emissions. Should the application for EDN
use be granted, the EPA must insist on dedicated fumigation facilities and recapture
always, if the EPA is to meet its statutory requirements.

Conclusions

18. Soil & Health seek that the application be declined.

19. Should the application be granted, dedicated fumigation facilities and recapture must be
required.

20. Soil & Health wish to be heard in support of our submission.

Yours sincerely

Name: Mischa Davis

Position: Policy Advisor

The Soil & Health Association PO Box 9693 Marion Square Wellington, 6141 Email: advocacy@organicnz.org.nz Website: www.organicnz.org.nz

Submission on Draft District Plan for the New Plymouth District Council

12th March 2018

New Plymouth District Council

Submission on Draft District Plan for the New Plymouth District Council

Introduction
1. The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand Inc. (“Soil & Health”) thanks the New Plymouth District Council for the opportunity to comment on the Draft New Plymouth District Plan (“Draft Plan”). This document is a comment on the current draft version of the plan.
2. Soil & Health is a charitable society registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908. It is the largest membership organisation supporting organic food and farming in New Zealand and is one of the oldest organic organisations in the world, established in 1941. Soil & Health’s objectives are to promote sustainable organic agricultural practices and the principles of good health based on sound nutrition and the maxim: “Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people”. Its membership is composed of home gardeners and consumers, organic farmers and growers, secondary producers, retailers and restaurateurs. Soil & Health publishes the bi-monthly magazine Organic NZ – New Zealand’s leading organics magazine.
3. Soil & Health makes this submission on the Draft Plan requesting that it include policies and provisions relating to the management of genetically modified organisms (“GMOs”), as allowed under the Resource Management Act 1991 (“RMA”) and pursuant to the ruling in Federated Farmers of New Zealand v Northland Regional Council.
4. Soil & Health was party to both Environment Court proceedings concerning genetically modified organisms (‘GMOs’), where it supported provision for GMOs under regional policy statements. The Association was also party to the High Court proceeding on GMOs.2
5. Soil & Health has concerns about the potential risks posed by releasing GMOs into the environment. It considers that the science is unproven and the risk of biological and ecosystem harm is too great not to include precautionary provisions for GMOs under local plans.
6. Equally important is the risk to social, economic, and cultural wellbeing, even if the New Plymouth District Council considers that GMOs pose no biological or ecosystem risk. This is because GMO contamination could have significant adverse effects on the economic markets, and way of life, for both organic and non-GMO food producers, and the mauri and tikanga of tangata whenua.
Background
7. GMO activities have been of particular concern to Soil & Health, and its members, since the technology was developed in the 1980s. Organic NZ has published numerous articles about GMOs since the early 1990s to explain transgenic technology and investigate its safety.
8. Soil & Health’s membership has consistently called for action to prevent or restrain using this technology freely in the environment, unless or until it can be proven to be safe, healthy and beneficial for people and the environment, and to ensure users of the technology take financial responsibility for any negative consequences.
9. Soil & Health has monitored most of New Zealand’s GE field trials and reported on what it believed to be significant compliance breaches. These include breaches by Scion at its Rotorua facility where GE pine trees were being grown in an outdoor field trial.
10. No matter how carefully conditions of consent for GMOs are crafted, there inevitably remains a risk, even if small, that conditions may be breached by poor management, human error, natural events such as severe storms and even the sabotage of particular projects.
11. Once GMOs have been released into the environment, they would be very difficult if not impossible to eradicate. In the case of a food product, the “GE-free” status of a district would likely be lost permanently along with the market advantages of that status.
12. There is also a potential risk that escape of GMOs from a controlled environment would attract widespread publicity. Any such publicity of control breaches or even public criticism of a lack of an appropriate precautionary approach carries with it a significant risk of damage to ‘brand New Zealand’ or even particular organic farming sectors on the international stage.
13. From its work, Soil & Health is acutely aware of the importance of the precautionary regulation of GMOs to local communities. Feedback from members has made Soil & Health aware that many of them are primary producers and make their livelihood from farming, horticulture, forestry and beekeeping. They are very concerned about the risks posed to their businesses given past evidence of either human error in GMO activities, or unforeseen or unintended adverse impacts of outdoor use of GMOs.
14. GMOs pose a significant risk to the investment organic farmers and growers have made in businesses. This includes the many organic operations in the New Plymouth District. For the important and rapidly growing organic community, the impacts of any GMO contamination could have devastating and irreversible impacts.
Inter-council Working Party
15. Significant gaps exist in the law around GMOs in New Zealand. There is no provision under the HSNO Act for financial liability for GMO contamination resulting from the release of an approved GMO, meaning those causing harm may not be held liable. This is a significant financial and enterprise risk for organic and GE free producers, should GMO contamination occur. Fortunately, under the RMA, requirements for bonds for remediation and to cover the costs of contamination can be included in district plans. Further there is no mandatory requirement for the Environmental Protection Authority (“EPA”) to take a precautionary approach to the outdoor use of GMOs.
16. Due to these gaps in the law, the Inter-council Working Party on GMO Risk Evaluation and Management Options was established, and as a result a number of councils around New Zealand are moving to protect their primary producers and communities by introducing precautionary or prohibitive policies. Auckland Council, Far North District Council, Whangarei District Council and Hastings District Council have all included provisions in their planning documents to regulate the outdoor use of genetically modified organisms. All four councils have prohibited the release of GMOs on land and made field trials a discretionary activity with performance standards in regards to liability and the posting of bonds.
17. Soil & Health considers it vitally important that there should be an additional layer of protection at a local level (on top of the requirements of the HSNO), should contamination from outdoor use of GMOs occur. This is a safeguard for organic and GE-free producers who would otherwise have no recompense for GMO contamination damage to, or even the total loss of, their enterprise.
18. Soil & Health strongly supports the role of local councils (district, regional, city and unitary authorities) to manage natural and physical in a truly sustainable manner and safeguard the interests of their constituents and local communities when faced with uncertainty about environmental effects including the significant risks of the outdoor use of GMOs.
19. To maintain consistency with other member councils on the Inter-council Working Party it is submitted that New Plymouth District Council should include provisions relating to GMOs in the New Plymouth District Plan. These provisions could be the same (or similar) as those in the Auckland Unitary Plan.
The Law
20. Soil & Health was a party to Federated Farmers of New Zealand v Northland Regional Council. That decision ruled that local councils have the power under the RMA to control the use of GMOs via their local planning instruments.
21. In his decision Judge Newhook ruled that: “the RMA and HSNO offer significantly different functional approaches to the regulation of GMOs”.
22. HSNO is limited to regulating the introduction of new organisms (including GMOs) to New Zealand. HSNO “does not regulate the potential adverse effects of GMOs beyond approving them for release”, and does not provide for integrated management.
23. The RMA, on the other hand, enables authorities to provide for the use and protection of resources “in a fully integrated fashion, taking into account regional needs for spatial management that might differ around the country for many reasons”.
24. This decision was upheld in the High Court after Federated Farmers appealed the Environment Court’s decision.
25. Therefore, there is jurisdiction for the New Plymouth District Council to make provision for objectives, policies, rules and other planning tools in relation to GMOs under the Draft Plan.
26. This is further confirmed by the recent RMA amendments. On 18 September 2017 section 360D officially set down in law the right to place GMO provisions in Council plans without Ministerial interference.
Integrated Management
27. GMO proposals require approval from the EPA under the HSNO Act. The HSNO Act consenting process gives particular attention to the technical aspects of managing individual proposals. However, it does not involve:
(a) consideration of the geographic distribution of GMO projects;
(b) consideration of the need to geographically protect areas of particular value from GMO activities, such as sensitive farming practices (including organic farming, and all farming and forestry relying on a GE-free status, beekeeping etc.);
(c) consideration of the preferences of a community; or
(d) integration of the management of natural and physical resources, and the effects of GMO activities on natural and physical resources, on a geographic basis.
28. The HSNO Act does not, therefore, provide a planning framework through which GMOs can be geographically, spatially or culturally managed in an integrated manner.
29. The RMA establishes a regime whereby local authorities are called upon to prepare policy and plans to implement sustainable management on a geographic basis through the use of integrated management of natural and physical resources at a regional level, and integrated management of effects on the environment at a district level.
30. Consideration of the location and distribution of proposals involving GMOs on a district basis, together with protection of rural resources for organic, biodynamic or GE-free farming, forestry, marine farming, beekeeping or other primary production, are important resource management matters for consideration by territorial authorities in carrying out their functions under the RMA.
Potential Adverse Effects of GMOs
31. The outdoor use of GMOs has a potential to cause significant adverse effects on the environment. Adverse effects could include (inter alia):
(a) biological or ecosystem harm;
(b) harm to tangata whenua cultural values such as mauri and tikanga;
(c) harm to the cultural values and lifestyle decisions of people and communities at a local level concerning what constitutes their wellbeing; and
(d) harm from GMO contamination to existing or potential forms of land use including organic farming (including organic certification and the requirement to be GMO free) and farming, forestry, beekeeping, marine farming and other primary production activities dependent on an uncontaminated environmental brand. Adverse effects to these land uses could include:
(i) loss of organic and GMO free certification;
(ii) reputational damage;
(iii) loss of markets, both local, national and international and the premiums paid for GMO free produce; and
(iv) loss of livelihood.
32. GMOs have the potential to adversely affect ecological, economic, and resource management values, and the social and cultural wellbeing of people, communities and tangata whenua.
33. Application of integrated management and a precautionary approach to GMOs under the RMA is the best available technique for managing the potential adverse effects posed by GMOs within the region.
34. It is consistent with the sustainable management purpose and Part II of the RMA to establish district plan provisions (e.g. issues, objectives, policies, rules and methods) that manage the release, location and management of GMOs where they have the potential to adversely affect the environment and other land use activities.
Decision Sought Regarding GMOs
35. The decision Soil & Health seeks from New Plymouth District Council is that the Draft Plan be amended to include the following:
a. A new section specifically addressing GMOs which includes issues, objectives, policies and rules that are the same (or similar) as those in the Auckland Unitary Plan.
b. Rules that make outdoor field trialling of GMOs a discretionary activity and release of GMOs for outdoor use a prohibited activity;
c. Provisions for bonds to make consent holders financially responsible for monitoring and any adverse effects particularly since the economic cost of adverse effects could be very high and should not be borne by third parties;

Yours sincerely

Name: Mischa Davis
Position: Policy Advisor

The Soil & Health Association
PO Box 9693
Marion Square
Wellington, 6141
Email: advocacy@organicnz.org.nz
Website: www.organicnz.org.nz

Submission on Proposed Regional Plan for Northland

Introduction

  1. The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand Inc. (“Soil & Health”) is a charitable society registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908. It is the largest membership organization supporting organic food and farming in New Zealand and is one of the oldest organic organisations in the world, established in 1941. Soil & Health’s objectives are to promote sustainable organic agricultural practices and the principles of good health based on sound nutrition and the maxim: “Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people”. Its membership is chiefly composed of home gardeners and consumers, organic farmers and growers, secondary producers, retailers and restaurateurs. Soil & Health publishes the bi-monthly ‘Organic NZ’ magazine – New Zealand’s leading organics magazine.
  2. Soil & Health makes this submission on the Proposed Regional Plan for Northland (“Proposed Plan”) requesting that it include policies and provisions relating to the management of genetically modified organisms (“GMOs”), as allowed under the Resource Management Act 1991 (“RMA”) and pursuant to the ruling in Federated Farmers of New Zealand v Northland Regional Council.
  3. Soil & Health further requests that amendments be made to the agrichemical section of the Proposed Plan to better protect people and the environment from the adverse effects of pesticides. A holistic approach to land and water use is required if land is to retain its productive capacity, and fresh water and marine habitats are to be restored. Agrichemical rules and policies must take special account of glyphosate use and other pesticide use in the region.
  4. Soil & Health wish to be heard in support of our submission.
  5. Genetically Modified Organisms
    Background

  6. Significant gaps exist in the law around GMOs in New Zealand. In the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (‘HSNO Act’) there are inadequate liability provisions (e.g. ‘polluter pays’) for any unintended or unforeseen adverse impacts resulting from the outdoor release of an approved GE crop or animal, meaning those causing harm may not be held liable. There is no mandatory requirement for the Environmental Protection Authority (‘EPA’) to take a precautionary approach to the outdoor use of GMOs.
  7. Due to these gaps in the law, the Inter-council Working Party on GMO Risk Evaluation and Management Options was establish and as a result a number of councils around New Zealand have been moving to protect their primary producers and communities by introducing precautionary or prohibitive policies. Auckland Council, Far North District Council and Whangarei District Council have all included provisions in their planning documents to regulate the outdoor use of genetically modified organisms. All three councils have prohibited the release of GMOs on land and made field trials a discretionary activity with performance standards in regards to liability and the posting of bonds. Auckland Council (as a Unitary Authority) has also prohibited the release of GMOs in the Coastal Marine Area (‘CMA’) and made field trials within the CMA a discretionary activity with performance standards in regards to liability and the posting of bonds.
  8. The Regional Policy Statement (‘RPS’) for Northland contains provisions relating to GMOs. These provisions are not yet operative. However, they are likely to require a precautionary approach to outdoor uses of GMOs.
  9. To maintain consistency with other member councils on the Inter-council Working Party and in anticipation of operative precautionary provisions in the RPS it is submitted that NRC should include provisions relating to GMOs in the CMA in its Proposed Regional Plan for Northland. These provisions should be the same (or similar) as those in the Auckland Unitary Plan to ensure a consistent approach across Northland and Auckland and eliminate cross boundary issues.
  10. The Law

  11. Soil & Health was a party to Federated Farmers of New Zealand v Northland Regional Council.
  12. That decision ruled that local councils have the power under the RMA to control the use of GMOs via their regional planning instruments.
  13. That decision has recently been upheld by the High Court.
  14. Soil & Health therefore considers that there is jurisdiction for Northland Regional Council (‘NRC’) to make provision for objectives, policies, rules and other planning tools in relation to GMOs under the Proposed Plan.
  15. Integrated Management

  16. GMO proposals require approval from the EPA under the HSNO Act.
  17. The HSNO Act consenting process gives particular attention to the technical aspects of managing individual proposals. However, it does not involve:
    1. consideration of the geographic distribution of GMO projects;
    2. consideration of the need to geographically protect areas of particular value from GMO activities, such as sensitive farming practices (including organic farming, also all farming and forestry relying on a GE-free status, beekeeping etc.);
    3. consideration of the preferences of a community; or
    4. integration of the management of natural and physical resources, and the effects of GMO activities on natural and physical resources, on a geographic basis.
  18. The HSNO Act does not, therefore, provide a planning framework through which GMOs can be geographically, spatially or culturally managed in an integrated manner.
  19. The RMA establishes a regime whereby local authorities are called upon to prepare policy and plans to implement sustainable management on a geographic basis through the use of integrated management of natural and physical resources at a regional level, and integrated management of effects on the environment at a district level.
  20. Consideration of the location and distribution of proposals involving GMOs on a district basis, together with protection of rural resources for organic, biodynamic or GE-free farming, forestry, marine farming, beekeeping or other primary production, are important resource management matters for consideration by territorial authorities in carrying out their functions under the RMA.
  21. Potential Adverse Effects of GMOs

  22. The outdoor use of GMOs has a potential to cause significant adverse effects on the environment. Adverse effects could include (inter alia):
    1. biological or ecosystem harm;
    2. harm to other existing or potential forms of land use including:
      1. organic farming (including organic certification and the requirement to be GMO free); and
      2. farming, forestry, beekeeping, marine farming and other primary production activities dependent on an uncontaminated environmental brand.
  23. GMOs have the potential to adversely affect ecological, economic, and resource management values, and the social and cultural wellbeing of people, communities and tangata whenua.
  24. Application of integrated management and a precautionary approach to GMOs under the RMA is the best available technique for managing the potential adverse effects posed by GMOs within the region.
  25. Sustainable Management and Part II

  26. It is consistent with the sustainable management purpose and Part II of the RMA to establish regional plan provisions (e.g. issues, objectives, policies, rules and methods) that manage the release, location and management of GMOs where they have the potential to adversely affect the environment other land use activities.
  27. Decision Sought regarding GMOs

  28. The decision Soil & Health seeks from NRC is that the Proposed Plan be amended to include the following:
  29. Strong precautionary, restrictive and/or prohibitive GMO provisions in the ‘Tangata whenua’ section of the Proposed Plan which address tangata whenua opposition to outdoor use of GMOs and/or their products and specific concerns about the risks of GMOs to indigenous biodiversity, and keeps with the wording in the RPS as relates to tangata whenua.
  30. To include GMO provisions in the ‘Coastal’ and ‘Coastal activities’ sections of the Proposed Plan that are the same as in the Auckland Unitary Plan, that being to adopt a precautionary approach to the management of GMOs by:
  31. prohibiting the outdoor release of a GMO in the Coastal space; and
  32. making outdoor field-testing a discretionary activity in the Coastal space; and
  33. including performance standards in regard to liability and the posting of bonds.
  34. To include GMO provisions in the ‘Land & water’ and the ‘Discharges to land and water’ sections of the Proposed Plan that avoids toxic discharges to land and water from GMOs, thereby avoiding transgenic contamination of soils and waterways and adverse impacts on GE-free primary producers. We note that the vectors for transgenic contamination include soils, seeds, pollen, insects, machinery, water, plus human error.
  35. To adopt a resource management framework for the management of GMOs that is regional specific taking into account environmental, economic and social well-being considerations.
  36. To address and support the Far North District Council, Whangarei District Council and Auckland Council’s opposition to outdoor use of GMOs.
  37. Soil & Health considers that it is important that there is consistency between the Auckland Unitary Plan and the Regional Plan for Northland, thereby eliminating cross boundary issues.
  38. Agrichemicals
    Introduction

  39. Soil & Health is opposed to the use of harmful pesticides in Aotearoa New Zealand. As an organisation we advocate for farmers and growers to adopt natural, organic, non-harmful methods of pest and disease management. We believe that researchers, farmers and growers should be encouraged to develop and implement nonchemical alternatives to pesticides that foster soil microbial life instead of destroying it. Central and local government should promote and support farmers and growers to transition to more sustainable and environmentally friendly methods of farming and land use while also ensuring that regulations are in place to sufficiently protect people, communities and the environment from the adverse effects of pesticides.
  40. Numerous independent scientific studies have raised serious concerns about the effects that pesticides have on human health and the environment. There is a real risk of people living in rural communities, close to where commercial horticulture takes place, who may be exposed to spray drift. Young children are especially vulnerable as they often play outdoors and in the fields. Children at school can be subjected to pesticide exposures from nearby operations. A number of studies have linked exposure to pesticide drift to chronic conditions in children such as autism spectrum disorders and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
  41. Organic farmers and producers are also at risk. Environmental chemical pollution threatens the long-term viability of organic producers sourcing water for livestock and food production. Organic farmers become exposed when input quality cannot be assured. Water is the major input in agriculture.
  42. New Zealand currently applies an excessive amount of pesticides to soils. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s statistics database advises that in 2014 US$20,481,292.00 worth of pesticides were sold in New Zealand. This list doesn’t include hazardous pesticides like atrazine, which are sold here but are unauthorized in Europe. Herbicides accounted for nearly 50% of these sales.
  43. Gylphosate

  44. Of the many chemicals currently approved for use in New Zealand by the EPA of most concern is glyphosate, commonly known as Roundup. It is sprayed down most New Zealand roads, through our forestry plantations, and on most agricultural land.
  45. Glyphosate is a biocide meaning it has multiple pathways of toxicity. Glyphosate damages gut bacteria, beneficial species are vulnerable but pathogenic bacteria are resistant, it harms the immune system, has been demonstrated to impact serotonin production, is endocrine disrupting and neurotoxic. As a patented antibiotic, it may affect antibiotic resistance. Leaky gut syndrome is a particularly insidious and unpleasant consequence that is affecting increasing numbers of people.
  46. It is expected that the biggest users of glyphosate in New Zealand are forestry, agriculture, New Zealand Transport Agency and local councils. However the EPA doe not exactly know how much glyphosate is being used. In an Official Information Act release dated 16 June, an EPA Communications Advisor wrote: “We often get asked by journalists about the volume or extent of glyphosate use (which we can’t answer).”
  47. After more than 40 years of prolific global use, glyphosate was recently identified by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer as a ‘probable human carcinogen.’ Many countries are proactively applying the precautionary approach and are restricting, and in some cases completely banning, the use of glyphosate. These countries include the United Kingdom, most northern European countries, France, Spain, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Bermuda and parts of the United States. Brazil and Argentina are likely to follow.
  48. In New Zealand some local governments are moving towards precautionary avoidance measures to transition away from the use of glyphosate-based herbicides. For example Christchurch City Council have recently proposed adopting a ban on glyphosate-based herbicides in built up areas in their draft Annual Plan. Tauranga City Council has also adopted measures to transition away from the use of glyphosate-based herbicides
  49. Effects on water quality

  50. Soil & Health recognises that New Zealand freshwater is in a dire state, with a staggering 62% of monitored waterways being unsafe for swimming. A big factor in the pollution of waterways is from the increasing intensification of agriculture and namely nitrates from soluble nitrogen fertilisers as well as increased pesticide use, so simply fencing off and planting around streams cannot solve this issue. Healthier fresh water is achievable by ensuring stock numbers are sustainable, and by shifting to organic and biological fertilising practices that involve nitrogen-fixing pasture species, and healthy living soils with good moisture-holding capacity.
  51. Regional Councils have an obligation under the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management to maintain and improve water quality however the same document fails to monitor synthetic organic compounds, and particularly, pesticides. The National Standards for freshwater lists only eight attributes for monitoring: cyanobacteria; Escherichia coli; dissolved oxygen; ammonia; nitrate; periphyton; total phosphorus; and total nitrogen. Avoiding greater contaminant monitoring permits a kind of ‘manufactured ignorance.’
  52. We do not have data to demonstrate how New Zealand aquatic environment responds to the chemicals that may cause adverse effects to invertebrates, fish species and other aquatic fauna. Toxic synergies from multiple chemicals are ignored.
  53. While our national freshwater policy does not require monitoring of agrichemicals in our waterways the most common pesticide, glyphosate and its toxic (and persistent) metabolite AMPA (aminomethylphosphinic acid), is not routinely monitored anywhere, not in freshwater, groundwater, or drinking water. Public health policy-makers might take note that glyphosate does not degrade quite as quickly as the claims made by regulators, indicate.
  54. Decision sought

  55. Ensure that cultivation that is on land that is not certified organic becomes made a controlled activity requiring a 400m buffer for sensitive spray areas.
  56. Require that along with National Freshwater standards that are required SectionD.4.1- D4.4, that freshwater and sediment monitoring data (for the previous 5 years) for the following commonly used pesticide screens are required annually. If a freshwater body is identified as degraded, then require pesticide screens quarterly. Ensure this information is published and fully available online.
  57. List of pesticides:

    1. Glyphosate and AMPA residues in freshwater and/or sediment
    2. Organonitrogen, Organophosphorus and Pesticides (ONOP) in Water and Soil.
    3. Multiresidue Pesticides (MR) in Water and Soil.
    4. Acidic Herbicides in Water and Soil
    5. Sulfonylureas (metsulfuron is widely applied on NZ roadsides)
    6. Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (SVOC)
    7. Organochlorines
  58. Ensure that the data supplied to the NZ National Survey of Pesticides in Groundwater is publicly available. Ensure that the metabolites as well as the primary active ingredients are screened for.
  59. The notification period for neighbouring land owners before spraying be increased from 24 hours to 48 hours, at a minimum. The currently proposed 24 hour notification period is not sufficient to ensure that people and communities are protected from the adverse effects of agrichemical spraying, especially for spray sensitive areas.
  60. Any aerial spraying whatsoever should not be allowed as a permitted activity under the Proposed Plan. Due to the nature of application aerial spraying is virtually impossible to contain in order to ensure that spray drift or direct discharge to water does not occur – therefore it is impossible for aerial spraying to meet the permitted activity conditions of rule C.6.5.1.
  61. Soil & Health request that conditions be imposed to ensure agrichemical monitoring, including for air, freshwater and groundwater, takes place which is supported by evidence concerning children’s increased vulnerability to pesticides. Soil & Heath are skeptical of how and whether the permitted activity conditions will ever be enforced without any sufficient requirements for monitoring.
  62. In 2014 11 wells were sampled. Ensure that these wells correspond with regions where higher levels of pesticides may be being applied. Northland is detecting triazine herbicides in groundwater. Europe have banned these due to high mobility and leaching. OEHHA have recognised many triazine herbicides as reproductive toxicants.

Yours sincerely

Name: Mischa Davis
Position: Policy Advisor

The Soil & Health Association
PO Box 9693,
Marion Square,
Wellington, 6141
Email: advocacy@organicnz.org.nz
Website: www.organicnz.org.nz