Proposal for a pesticide risk reduction policy for New Zealand

Abstract

New Zealand is one of the few OECD countries to have no pesticide risk reduction policy. Mounting pressure to develop such a policy is in part internal (increasing recognition of environmental contamination, community concern about spray drift); and in part external (the OECD Pesticide Risk Reduction Project; export market demands). Much criticism has been levelled at policies which, like Sweden’s, include specific targets to reduce the quantity of active ingredients used. Yet analyses of Sweden’s relative toxicity equivalents shows that a significant reduction in risk as well as quantity has been achieved. This paper presents elements of a proposed risk reduction policy for New Zealand.