Pursuant to section 49H of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (“HSNO Act”), the Environmental Risk Management Authority hereby gives notice that on
22 December 2006, it approved an application for the manufacture and use of Gemex, a hazardous substance necessary for use in the event of a special emergency declared under section 49B of the HSNO Act.
The special emergency to which the approval relates is the possible incursion of the unwanted algae Didymosphenia geminata into the North Island of New Zealand, or a significant new incursion in the South Island.
The application was approved pursuant to section 49F of the HSNO Act, with the following controls:
? The substance may only be used in accordance with the management plan specified by the applicant;
? the applicant shall report the results of any monitoring to ERMA New Zealand;
? the applicant shall state on the product label the target concentration required (for flowing water) and the dilution rate (for hand spraying);
? the approval took effect on 22 December 2006. The date of expiry of the approval shall be the earlier of:
– the date of the expiry (if any) of the special emergency declared by the Minister for Biosecurity in the declaration declaring the special emergency, or in a later declaration declaring that the special emergency has ceased; or
– 22 December 2008; and
? on expiry of this approval, the Gemex must be disposed of or stored in an exempt laboratory (under the Hazardous Substances (Exempt Laboratories) Regulations 2001), unless, before the expiry of the approval, the applicant has, under any other provision of the HSNO Act, been granted an approval.
Copies of the approval and the management plan can be inspected free of charge or purchased at the Wellington office of ERMA New Zealand (Level 1, BP House, 20 Customhouse Quay) or can be downloaded from the ERMA New Zealand website
www.ermanz.govt.nz
Dated at Auckland this 31st day of December 2006.
TONY HAGGERTY, Chair, Hazardous Substances Standing Committee, Environmental Risk Management Authority.