The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) welcomes the recommendations made in a new report from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton.

The EPA is responsible for approvals covering more than 150,000 hazardous substances regulated under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996.

The EPA’s Chief Executive, Dr Allan Freeth, says it’s important to keep striving for better environmental outcomes for New Zealand.

"We intend to develop new rules to allow us to collate, collect, and report on the quantity and use of chemicals in New Zealand," says Dr Freeth.

"We are also pleased to see the recommendation that the EPA should be specifically funded to improve its modelling capabilities in line with international best practice, and to incorporate New Zealand specific environmental exposure scenarios."

Dr Freeth supports the chief recommendation for all agencies dealing with chemicals to develop a common framework for considering and managing the environmental impacts of chemical use.

"For some time, we have been signalling a growing concern about the need to better understand the lasting impact of chemicals and their pathways into the environment. This report aligns with our strategic efforts to take a long-term approach to regulation, and gives voice to issues we know matter to all New Zealanders.

"We will continue to work with Ministers, the Ministry for the Environment, and others, to make progress in the areas we are responsible for regulating," says Dr Freeth.

In 2021, the EPA concluded a multi-year programme to modernise how it manages the regulation of hazardous substances in New Zealand. This included the introduction of the Globally Harmonised System (GHS 7), which brings New Zealand’s hazardous substance classification system up to date and into alignment internationally. To support New Zealand’s adoption of GHS 7, we have migrated our hazardous substances database to the International Uniform Chemical Information Database (IUCLID). The project also developed the first phase of a chemical map, which aims to visualise and interrogate New Zealand and international data by metrics such as risk, volume, and harm.

Read the PCE report "Knowing what’s out there: Regulating the environmental fate of chemicals"

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