Part 1: Introduction
Background
International context
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants aims to protect human health and the environment from the effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The Convention includes:
- measures aimed at eliminating 10 manufactured chemicals, through the eventual banning of their production and use
- a range of control measures aimed at continuously minimising and, where feasible, eliminating releases of Annex C chemicals (unintentional POPs)
- measures to ensure the sound management of stockpiles and wastes that contain POPs.
POPs are chemical substances that have toxic properties, resist degradation in the environment, bioaccumulate through the food chain, and are transported through air, water and migratory species, within and across international boundaries. The scientific criteria characterising POP chemicals are set out in Annex D of the Convention. They are significant because low-dose exposure to some POPs may pose a threat to human health and the environment. There is clear evidence, particularly in the northern hemisphere, of the long-range dispersal of these substances via the atmosphere, water and migratory species to regions where they have never been used or produced, and where they accumulate in terrestrial and aquatic systems.
A significant feature of POP chemicals in humans and other mammals is that mothers transfer part of their own “body burden” to embryos and foetuses in utero, and to infants via breast milk, so that it will take many generations for the presence of POPs to be eliminated. Health experts agree internationally that the benefits of breastfeeding for an infant are demonstrated and outweigh the potential adverse effects of POP exposure. It has also been shown that determined efforts and co-ordinated programmes do result in the elimination of sources, reduced formation and releases and, subsequently, reduced exposures. Despite the bioaccumulative character of POPs, affirmative measures aimed at reducing releases and/or eliminating sources can make a difference, and this helps explain why over 150 governments have made a commitment to the Stockholm Convention.
International action on POPs was endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council in 1995 and led to negotiations, beginning in 1998, on the text of a legally binding international agreement. At a diplomatic conference held in Stockholm on 16 May 2001, over 90 countries became signatories to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The Convention became international law on 17 May 2004 and was ratified by New Zealand in September 2004. As of May 2006 there are 151 signatories, of which 125 are ratified parties. The full text of the Convention is available at: http://www.pops.int/
The Stockholm Convention requires parties to apply control measures on the 12 POPs that have been used as pesticides or industrial chemicals, or are unwanted by-products. It also allows for the addition of new POP chemicals in future. The initial 12 POPs are listed in Table 2.
New Zealand is also a party to two other international chemical-related conventions – the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions – which, together with the Stockholm Convention, provide an international framework governing the environmentally sound management of hazardous chemicals and wastes throughout their life-cycles.
Table 2: The 12 POPs specified under the Stockholm Convention
| Chemical | Pesticide | Industrial chemical | Unintentionally formed by product (Annex C chemical) |
|---|---|---|---|
Aldrin |
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Chlordane |
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Dieldrin |
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Endrin |
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Heptachlor |
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Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) |
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Mirex |
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Toxaphene |
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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) |
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DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane) |
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Dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins) |
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Furans (polychlorinated dibenzofurans) |
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The role of the Ministry for the Environment
The Ministry for the Environment is New Zealand’s designated national authority for the Stockholm Convention. Accordingly, the Government’s responsibility for developing and implementing a national implementation plan (NIP) for meeting Stockholm Convention obligations lies with the Ministry for the Environment.
Finalising the NIP
The Ministry consulted with relevant government departments and agencies in preparing the NIP. A draft plan was available for public comment for an eight-week period. The NIP was finalised by taking into account the 26 submissions received from national stakeholders, including local government and non-government organisations, and from one national women’s group. The NIP is endorsed by the New Zealand Government.
Contact point
General enquiries on the New Zealand NIP should be addressed to:
Howard Ellis, Senior Adviser, Ministry for the Environment, PO Box 10-362, Wellington (email: howard.ellis@mfe.govt.nz; phone +64 4 439 7437; Fax +64 4 439 7705).
Overview of New Zealand’s National Implementation Plan
Principal obligations
The Convention requires parties to adopt and implement measures aimed at reducing or eliminating the release of POPs into the environment with the aim of reducing the exposure of humans, animals and environmental organisms.
In accordance with Article 7 of the Stockholm Convention, the Ministry for the Environment has prepared this National Implementation Plan (NIP), which sets out how New Zealand plans to implement its obligations under the Convention. The New Zealand NIP is to be submitted to the Conference of the Parties (COP) via the Stockholm Secretariat on or before 23 December 2006 (within two years of the Convention’s coming into force for New Zealand).
Historical context for the Plan
New Zealand historically imported, manufactured and used POP chemicals (as described in Part 2 in the section on Article 3), resulting in impacts that are significant in the national context.
- From the manufacture of 2,4,5-T in New Plymouth there is evidence of dioxin exposure within the workplace, and to longer-term local residents who lived in close proximity to the plant between 1962 and 1987.
- From the widespread historical use of POPs pesticides in agriculture and horticulture there is evidence of mainly localised areas of contamination, with some broader low-level contamination also remaining but with no significant presence in food products.
- From the timber industry’s use of pentachlorophenol, which contained dioxins as contaminants, there is evidence of historical workplace exposure, and of localised soil contamination where POPs and other chemicals were applied to timber.
- From the use, storage and handling of PCBs and POPs pesticides, and from combustion activities giving rise to the release of unintentional POPs (e.g. dioxins, furans), there is evidence of historical population exposure to these contaminants. Exposure is likely to have involved multiple pathways, including dietary intake, and perinatal, inhalation and dermal exposures.
Summary of past and current activities
New Zealand has already achieved, or is currently undertaking, many activities that, taken together, go a long way towards meeting the Government’s obligations under the Stockholm Convention. To provide a context and a basis for the NIP, these past and present activities are briefly outlined below.
Eliminating releases from intentional production and use (Article 3)
Two laws, amended during 2003, ensure that New Zealand’s legal framework is in compliance with Stockholm Convention requirements.
- The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act 1996 was amended to ban the production, importation and use in New Zealand of the POP substances specified under the Convention.
- The Import Control Act 1988, renamed the Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Act 1988, was amended to enable controls to apply, via the Imports and Exports (Restrictions) Prohibition Order (No. 2) 2004, to the export of POPs as chemicals, and to the import/ export of POP hazardous wastes.
These laws mean that all POP pesticides listed under the convention are banned from use, and that any presently exempted use of PCBs must be phased out and waste stocks disposed of by 2016. This phase-out programme has been administered by the Ministry of Health since 1993 under the Toxic Substances Regulations 1983, and the completion of this programme is now being administered by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA).
Reducing and eliminating releases from unintentional production (Article 5)
Four significant historical sources of releases of unintentional POPs (dioxins and other Annex C chemicals) in New Zealand have been addressed over the past two decades. In each of these situations, the formation of dioxins (in particular) and their release to the environment was an unintended consequence of a manufacturing process and/or the use of a manufactured product.
- Leaded petrol is no longer used as a fuel, and its removal has greatly reduced motor vehicle exhaust as a source of dioxins.
- Elemental chlorine is no longer used in pulp and paper production as a bleaching agent.
- Pentachlorophenol is no longer used as a timber treatment.
- 2,4,5-T herbicide has not been manufactured in New Zealand since 1987.
As a basis for identifying priorities to achieve further reductions in releases, the Ministry for the Environment prepared a dioxin inventory: New Zealand Inventory of Dioxin Emissions to Air, Land and Water, and Reservoir Sources (Ministry for the Environment, 2000).
A set of seven national environmental standards, as national regulations under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), now ban certain activities that would otherwise give rise to dioxins and other air toxics. The activities banned are: landfill fires, burning insulated wire, burning oil or tyres in the open, and burning road seal. In addition, new high-temperature hazardous waste incinerators are not permitted, and the incineration of waste by schools and hospitals is to be banned (unless the facility obtains a resource consent by September 2006). [For further details, see the Resource Management (National Environmental Standards Relating to Certain Air Pollutants, Dioxins, and Other Toxics) Regulations 2004 at: http://gpacts.knowledge-basket.co.nz/ regs/regs/text/2004/2004309.txt.]
Stockpiles and wastes (Article 6)
The Ministry for the Environment and regional councils are undertaking a national collection of unwanted and unused agricultural chemicals in rural New Zealand, including POP pesticides. These collections complement collections previously initiated by local government in some regions. Any POP wastes that require shipping and destruction offshore are managed in accordance with the Basel Convention.
A Contaminated Sites Remediation Fund has been established by the Government to achieve, in partnership with regional councils and other parties, the remediation of high-risk contaminated sites. The first major expenditure from the fund is being used to clean-up an ex-POP pesticide manufacturing site in Mapua, Tasman, contaminated by DDT and dieldrin. The Fund is also facilitating the management and clean-up of a number of other smaller-scale contaminated sites, including those contaminated by POPs.
To facilitate and encourage clean-up activity, the Income Tax Act 2004 has been amended (Taxation [Base Maintenance and Miscellaneous Provisions] Act 2005) to allow tax deductions for business expenditure related to contaminated land remediation. This measure is expected to encourage greater activity in the clean-up and management of contaminated land.
Research, development and monitoring (Article 11)[Government reports on POPs are referenced in Appendix 2.]
A major baseline research programme, the Organochlorines Programme, [Ministry for the Environment reports from the Organochlorines Programme can be viewed and downloaded from: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/hazardous/index.html#organochlorines.] was conducted by the Ministry for the Environment between 1996 and 2001. It identified that, overall, the level of dioxins, PCBs and other POPs in the New Zealand environment, in food and in people was generally very low in comparison to most other countries with comparable data.
Studies commissioned by the Ministry of Health [See Bates et al, 2001, Appendix 2.] showed that levels of dioxins, PCBs and organochlorine pesticides in the breast milk of New Zealand women had declined by about 70% over the 10-year period 1988 to 1998. In general, the exposure of New Zealanders to these POPs is low relative to exposures in most other countries where comparable studies have been carried out.
The Department of Labour has commissioned epidemiological studies to clarify the health outcomes resulting from exposure of former workers to PCP in the timber industry.
Levels of dioxins have been determined in people and in residential soil adjacent to a New Plymouth factory that manufactured chlorinated pesticides up to 1987. Occupational health studies are ongoing.
Policy context for the Plan
The policy context for the Plan is that:
- the public expects to be protected from exposure to environmental contaminants such as dioxins, PCBs and organochlorine pesticides
- the broad-scale New Zealand situation is well researched, and shows that the actual level of exposure to POPs among the general population is low, as evidenced by New Zealand studies of dietary intake, human serum and breast milk
- the Stockholm Convention obligations make explicit a number of requirements to minimise and/or eliminate the release of POPs.
As outlined in the preceding section, New Zealand is well placed to meet its Stockholm Convention obligations as considerable work has already been achieved or is underway.
The Government’s response to POP issues and the approach to formulating the National Implementation Plan are considered precautionary but pragmatic, and in line with best international practice.
The NIP builds on legislative reform and policy developed over the past decade to progressively improve chemicals management and reduce the impact of wastes. For example, laws and regulations are now in place that tightly control the import, export, manufacture and use of POPs and the disposal of POPs hazardous waste, including its collection, handling and transport. More specifically, the Government:
- has introduced national environmental standards to improve air quality nationwide, including the minimising of releases of dioxins
- is developing policy to manage risks from contaminated land
- has introduced regulatory measures to ensure that local governments reduce releases of dioxins, including from old and polluting waste incinerators
- has banned the building of new hazardous waste incinerators
- has banned the open burning of certain materials that would generate toxins
- is funding the disposal of some of the collected and redundant agrichemicals, including POPs, particularly from rural areas
- is completing the phase-out and disposal of PCBs.
These measures are considered in more detail in the following sections addressing:
- Article 3: Reduce/eliminate the production and use of POPs (pesticides and industrial chemicals)
- Article 5: Reduce/eliminate the release of unintentional POPs (Annex C chemicals)
- Article 6: Reduce/eliminate the release of POPs from stockpiles and wastes, including contaminated sites.
A Senior Officials Group and an Organochlorines Technical Advisory Group have been convened by the Ministry of Health to monitor the progress of research and policy on organochlorine issues. Programmes across government making a contribution to achieving Stockholm Convention objectives are listed in Appendix 1.
Goal
The Goal of the NIP is to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants by implementing the Stockholm Convention.
Objectives
New Zealand’s overall objectives for the NIP are to:
- communicate the actions undertaken to implement the Stockholm Convention
- eliminate the remaining uses of POPs
- implement an Action Plan for Dioxins and Other Annex C Chemicals to minimise and, where feasible, eliminate releases of unintentionally produced POPs [Dioxins, furans, PCBs and HCB when produced unintentionally.]
- dispose of POP stockpiles, and manage sites contaminated by POPs
- comply with the Stockholm Convention.
Key outcomes
Key outcomes expected from implementing the NIP include:
- the present margin of safety for protecting human health from POPs will be extended as body burdens decline
- the present high quality of New Zealand primary products (especially meat and dairy foods) will be further safeguarded
- the status of New Zealand’s clean environment will be strengthened
- New Zealand will fully comply with the Stockholm Convention.
These outcomes support the Government’s goal of achieving sustainable development under the Sustainable Development for New Zealand Programme of Action (Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2003).
