Published on 26/07/2024
Regulation Minister David Seymour, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds, and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard last month announced a regulatory sector review on the approval process for new agricultural and horticultural products.
Animal and Plant Health NZ chief executive Liz Shackleton says the association’s members have innovative products waiting for approval that will address some of agriculture’s greatest challenges - responding to a changing climate, biosecurity incursions, resistance issues and export trade requirements.
“These innovations don’t belong in a queue, they belong in the hands of our pioneering farmers, growers, biosecurity and conservation personnel.
“We applaud efforts to stream-line and modernise the approval process. Our regulators have an important role as gatekeepers of these products, and we support efforts to help them in this role.”
Federated Farmers arable chair David Birkett says growers have been pushing for change on this front for some time.
"We’re really pleased the Government is going to look into it, and we expect faster application timeframes to come out of it.
"Fall armyworm controls and the methane-inhibiting feed additive Bovaer are just two examples of products approved overseas but denied to NZ farmers.
"Fall armyworm, an insect pest that can ravage more than 300 plant species, especially maize and sweetcorn, was able to establish and spread here more readily because approval for recognised control treatments was too slow," Birkett says.
"The armyworm is developing resistance to the limited treatment options available.
"Bovaer is approved as safe for animals, farmers and consumers in more than 55 countries, including the EU, Australia, Canada and Switzerland.
"But our farmers can’t use it. After being held up by our Environmental Protection Agency for three years, approval is now stuck in New Zealand Food Safety processes.
"Farmers are being pushed to excel on biosecurity control, climate change and production fronts but red tape and inefficiency means ready access to the tools they need to meet these challenges is far too slow," Birkett says.
David Seymour says red tape stops farmers and growers from getting access to products that have been approved by other OECD countries.
“It can take nine years and wrangling government agencies to get approval here.
“Farmers overseas are using innovative technologies that we don’t have access to that make animals emit less methane, make fruit and vegetable plants grow faster, and control pests and diseases with less environmental harm.
“If we don’t remove these barriers to productivity, we will fall behind our global competitors when we need to grow the economy through trade.”
The Ministry for Regulation is developing terms of reference and timetable for the review.