Application to Determine grounds for a reassessment of an existing new organisms approval BP House 20 Customhouse Quay PO Box 131, Wellington Phone: 04-916 2426 Fax: 04-914 0433 Email: [email protected] Web: www.ermannz.govt.nz Publication number 140/01 Please note This application form is to be used for determining if there are grounds for a reassessment of an existing new organisms approval under s62 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act. The Authority will only agree to undertake a reassessment of a new organism approval if it is found that there are grounds for a reassessment. Organisms that were approved for release without controls cannot be reassessed. This is the approved form for the purposes of the HSNO Act and replaces all other previous versions. Any extra material that does not fit in the application form must be clearly labelled, cross-referenced and included as appendices to the application form. Confidential information must be collated in a separate appendix. You must justify why you consider the material confidential and make sure it is clearly labelled as such. If technical terms are used in the application form, explain these terms in plain language in the Glossary (Section 4 of this application form). You must sign the application form and enclose the application fee (including GST). ERMA New Zealand will not process applications that are not accompanied by the correct application fee. For more information regarding fees refer to our Fees and Charges Schedule on our website at www.ermanz.govt.nz. Unless otherwise indicated, all sections of this form must be completed to the best of your ability for the application to be processed. Please provide an electronic version of the completed application form, as well as a signed hard copy. Applications to determine grounds for a reassessment are not publicly notified. We recommend you contact a New Organism Advisor at ERMA New Zealand (or email [email protected]) before you complete this application form. We can help you scope and prepare your request. This form was approved on 23 December 2010 by the Chief Executive of ERMA New Zealand acting under delegation from the Authority. Page 2 of 18 Section 1: Application details a) Application title Reassessment of zoo animals approved or deemed approved for importation into containment. b) Organisation name ERMA New Zealand c) Postal address BP House, 20 Customhouse Quay, PO Box 131, Wellington 6140 Page 3 of 18 Section 2: Identification of the organism and proposed approval to be reassessed a) Organism details Genus: see appendix one Species: b) Approval/application code listed on ERMA decision document See appendix one Section 3: Describe the grounds for a reassessment – more than one may be relevant Yes No There is new information about the effects of the organism There has been a change in the use of the organism Other a) Provide details to support your answer In 1998 the HSNO Act made transitional provisions for new organisms held in zoological gardens under s255 (expired). As a result, those organisms lawfully held in a lawfully registered circus or zoo were deemed to be new organisms, and the registration of the facility under the Zoological Garden Regulations 1977 was deemed to be an approval to import those organisms under s45 of the HSNO Act. Subsequently the Zoo Standard was applied as the minimum controls to contain these organisms. ERMA New Zealand has recognised more than 150 species of animals as being ‚deemed approved‛ for importation into containment under s255. These species have not been assessed under the HSNO Act framework. In contrast ERMA New Zealand has assessed and approved with controls over 200 new organism species, or groups of species, for import into containment for the purposes of public display, and/or conservation and research. There is a gap in our knowledge as to whether the controls on ‚deemed approved‛ animals are adequate and consistent with those controls applied to animals approved after 1998. A reassessment of the ‚deemed approved‛ animals would provide an opportunity to assess and put into place consistent and risk mitigating controls. Change in the use of the organisms Under the Zoological Gardens Regulation 1977 the ‚deemed approved‛ animals had been imported and subsequently bred in captivity for the purposes of public exhibition or entertainment, and includes a circus, a marine park, an aquarium, and an oceanarium. Under the HSNO Act the Authority may approve the importation of new organisms for a specified list of purposes (s39(1)) which includes in s39(1)(e) the public display of any organism including, but not limited to, display in a circus or zoological garden. As a consequence almost all import into containment approvals given under the HSNO Act for zoo species are for the single purpose of public display. The HSNO Act does not have a concept of a zoo but rather import and maintenance of a new organism into containment for a purpose. Modern zoos are not limited to public display and see their Page 4 of 18 role as including education and conservation through research, funding of in-situ projects and captive breeding programmes. ‚Zoos, aquariums and botanic gardens can operate across the whole spectrum of conservation activities, from ex situ breeding of threatened species, research, public education, training and influencing and advocacy, through to in situ support of species, populations and their habitats; they uniquely have a massive ‘captive audience’ of visitors whose knowledge, understanding, attitude, behaviour and involvement can all be positively influenced and harnessed.‛ ARAZPA, 2006. The Agency approach to more recent applications made by zoos is to recognise that public display is only part of their function. Consequently the purpose of the importation defined in recent approvals has also included education, the conservation of genetic material (through captive breeding) and research. A reassessment of the deemed approved animals, as well as some of the older HSNO Act approvals, would be to extend the purposes of import and maintenance in containment, and bring consistency to the approvals. Information about effects For those organisms ‘deemed approved’ for containment in zoos, the risks, costs and benefits were not assessed. There is now additional information about the adverse effects of some zoo animals that are approved or deemed approved for containment. There have been a number of incidents involving ‚deemed approved‛ animals reported to the Authority in recent years. Those incidents range from escapes from enclosures within facilities to a mauling resulting in the death of a worker. This new information will be taken into account when assessing the adverse effects of these ‚deemed approved‛ animals held in containment. There is also additional information about the beneficial effects of the ‚deemed approved‛ animals being in containment. Zoological gardens were originally intended for entertainment, and to offer the opportunity to see exotic animals to those people who would not normally get such a chance. The conservation and education of the public are now a major part of the operation of a zoo, and are benefits of having zoo animals in containment. Therefore those benefits will be taken into account when reassessing the effects of zoo animals held in containment. Containment of new organisms From the 29 of July 1998 until the 29 July 2003 ‚deemed approved‛ animals (under s255) were subject to the Zoological Gardens Regulations 1977. From the date that they expired the regulations were superseded by the MAF/ERMA Zoo Standard. In general zoological gardens are different from other ‚containment facilities‛ such as laboratories because of the presence of members of the public. Other information Currently the organisms that are deemed approved for containment are not searchable on the ERMA website, and due to the nature of the approvals (deemed) there are no decision or control documents available for those organisms either. This can lead to confusion for the facilities holding these organisms around what their obligations are, and for enforcement staff when auditing those facilities. The reassessment will result in all the organisms subject to the reassessment being searchable on the website, and there will be a decision document outlining the controls. A reassessment will also enable the Authority to make controls consistent for all organisms and facilities holding zoo animals. Page 5 of 18 Section 4: List of appendices and referenced material (if applicable) a) List of appendices attached Appendix Number Title 1 Zoo animals approved or deemed approved for import into containment. b) List of references used – hard copies must be attached to the application form. Author Title Journal Section 5: Declaration and signing the application form In preparing this application I have: taken into account the ethical principles and standards described in the ERMA New Zealand Ethics Framework Protocol (http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/resources/publications/pdfs/ER-PR-05-1.pdf); identified any ethical considerations relevant to this application that I am aware of; ensured that my answers contain an appropriate level of information about any ethical considerations identified, and provided information about how these have been anticipated or might be mitigated; and contacted ERMA New Zealand staff for advice if in doubt about any ethical considerations. I have completed this application to the best of my ability and, as far as I am aware, the information I have provided in this application form is correct. Signed Date Signature of applicant or person authorised to sign on behalf of applicant Before submitting your application you must ensure that: all sections are completed; appendices (if any) are attached; copies of references (if any) are attached; any confidential information identified and enclosed separately; the application is signed and dated; your application fee has been paid or is enclosed; and an electronic copy of the final application is e-mailed to ERMA New Zealand.