Building Partnerships for Pesticide Risk Reduction: A Symposium for Future Action,Wellington

Welcome everybody to this symposium on building partnerships for pesticide risk reduction.
This is the difficult part when you don't really know those strangers around you. Well we have gathered people who have been developing and implementing strategies for pesticide risk reduction from many different angles over the past few decades.
A wide range of representation – scientists, producers, growers, regulators, environmentalists and marketers from New Zealand, Australia and the US.
The challenge over these next couple of days will be to make connections and build a collective understanding of how to work together to reduce risks to people and the environment from using pesticides in New Zealand.
In many ways this will be achieved through developing partnerships between those who are involved with pesticide use and those who are affected by it.

Some people are concerned about the effects of pesticides on crops, on their health and on the environment. Therefore, it is important to ensure that pesticides are used only where necessary and that the overall burden of pesticides on the environment is reduced.

There are genuine and significant concerns about the use of pesticides, about how they're used – their effects on neighbours:
-About how much is used
-About how long the pesticide lasts
and therefore
the effect on human/animal health

There are many different reasons to reduce the use of pesticides – marketing, costs, demands from consumers, campaigns by non government organisations and cleverer ways of reducing pests.
The government recognises the genuine and significant concerns from the community about the use of pesticides and that there are real opportunities to reduce the overall burden of pesticides on the environment. But it is only by communities working together that we will be able to achieve reduced risks to people and the environment while gaining the benefits when it is necessary to use pesticides.
I’d like to acknowledge the foundation work that has been undertaken by groups like the Agrichemical Trespass Ministerial Advisory Committee and the Pesticide Risk Reduction Strategy working group and am heartened to see that many of you are present today.
Notification of ERMA's transfer of pesticides into HSNO was gazetted on 15 June and will be effective on July 1 2004. ERMA has held a series of seminars around the country to inform pesticide users about the new means of administration.
HSNO is comprehensive. It has been set up to manage effects on the environment and public health; and covers the full lifecycle from importing to manufacture, packing and storage, to transport, handling and disposal.
I am aware that for almost all pesticides, including those used by organic farmers, there is now an approved handler requirement. This is a far-reaching change. While I am sure there will be short-term challenges to be addressed in moving to these new arrangements, I am also sure that in the longer term, ERMA's decision will be seen as a very significant step towards risk reduction.
I have been told that running a symposium of this type is very much like opening a Pandora’s box. But I am optimistic that as New Zealanders, with the advantage of having many connections and networks throughout this small country, we can establish a way for building partnerships for pesticide risk reduction in the future.