APPLICATION FORM CONTAINMENT Application for containment approval for new organisms under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 Send by post to: Environmental Protection Authority, PO Box 131, Wellington 6140 OR email to: [email protected] Application number APP201244 Applicant AgResearch Limited Key contact Sean Marshall Postal Mail: Private Bag 4749, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand Courier: cnr Springs Road and Gerald Street, Lincoln www.epa.govt.nz 2 Application for containment approval for new organisms Important This application form should be used if you intend to import, develop or field test any new organism (including genetically modified organisms (GMOs)) in containment. These terms are defined in the HSNO Act. The HSNO Act can be downloaded from: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1996/0030/latest/DLM381222.html. If your application is for a project approval of low-risk genetic modification, use application form EPA0062. The HSNO (Low Risk Genetic Modification) Regulations can be downloaded from: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2003/0152/latest/DLM195215.html. Applications to field test GMOs will be publicly notified. The other application types may or may not be publicly notified. This application form will be made publicly available so any confidential information must be collated in a separate labelled appendix. The fee for this application can be found on our website at www.epa.govt.nz. If you need help to complete this form, please look at our website (www.epa.govt.nz) or email us at [email protected]. This form was approved on 21 September 2011. September 2011 EPA0061 3 Application for containment approval for new organisms 1. What type(s) of containment activities are you applying for? Tick where appropriate: Application type Type of new organism GM Import into containment Non-GM Develop in containment i.e. regeneration, fermentation or GM genetic modification Non-GM GM Field test in containment Non-GM 2. Brief application description Provide a short description (approximately 30 words) of what you are applying to do. To import tropical beetles of the family Scarabaeidae into containment to conduct research on potential biological control of these pests in their country of origin. 3. Summary of application Provide a plain English, non-technical description of what you are applying to do and why you want to do it. This application is to import tropical beetles of the family Scarabaeidae into containment for use as the target hosts of various insect pathogens (fungi, bacteria and virus) that have the potential to be biological control agents. The proposed species are restricted to the tropics, and are therefore adapted for survival in high ambient temperatures. The importations will include rhinoceros beetles, taro beetles and other similar scarab pest species. The insect pathogens are already held in the AgResearch Insect Pathogen Culture Collection in the Microorganism Containment Facility (MPI/MAF #480), though approval to import additional putative pathogens may be sought in the future if determined appropriate for the project. Importation of different beetle species from various tropical countries (such as those from SE Asia or Pacific Island nations) will provide for comparative studies between pest species and strains of pathogens, and selection of the best biocontrol agents for release in these countries. Research into the biology of insect pests and their pathogens for biocontrol purposes will help to maintain existing New Zealand scientific capability, as well as expand capability in this area by identifying possible methods to improve the biocontrol capabilities of these organisms. It will also assist our fundamental understanding of insect disease caused by microbial agents, which contributes to the development of biologically-based insect control methods and agents for exotic insect pests that pose potential biosecurity risks. These beetles are pests of agriculture in tropical climates and our research will contributed towards the ability to better manage them. The beetles will be held under containment and will not be released into the New Zealand environment. September 2011 EPA0061 4 Application for containment approval for new organisms 4. Describe the background and aims of your application This section is intended to put the new organism(s) in perspective of the wider activities(s) that they will be used in. You may use more technical language but please make sure that any technical words used are included in a glossary. New Zealand has had a long relationship with Pacific and Asian countries in the development of pest management systems and, more recently, development of biosecurity procedures. AgResearch is a leader in biocontrol technologies for insect pest species and has been assisting Pacific and Asian countries in the development of biocontrol systems. During this work, the need for a central laboratory where comparative research can be carried out has become evident. AgResearch has built up an extensive collection of biological control agents (via isolation from the NZ environment or under containment through MPI/MAF Import Permits) while working on international programmes. Some of these agents are regularly supplied to overseas collaborators, but there is an important need to carry out testing in New Zealand to allow for quality control of produced microbes and comparative studies to determine the susceptibility of target species of pest and select the best strains for use as biocontrol agents. This will involve challenging the imported tropical beetles with a variety of putative biocontrol agents held in our Microorganism Containment Facility (MP/MAF#480) (such as those held under ERMA Approval GMD001413) and assessing the effects of these agents. The beetles will be held under containment in an insect quarantine facility and are never intended for release into the New Zealand environment. The project focuses on pest beetles of the Family Scarabaeidae found within tropical climates. Insects under study include (but are not limited to) the rhinoceros beetles and cane grub/white grub scarabs of plantation and food crops found through the tropical regions (approximate latitudes between 0° to 35°) of the Pacific, Australia, America, Asia, Africa, and Middle East areas. These have been identified by our Asia and Pacific collaborators as being either currently or potentially problematic (e.g. the coconut rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros) (Watt 1986; Jackson & Masamdu 1998). Some of these insects are endemic to Asia (and the other regions mentioned above) but have spread into the Pacific Islands where they cause severe crop losses and are a threat to regional food security, or a potential risk to trading partners. For example, the coconut rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros, is a pest of coconut palms through South-East and South Asia (Bedford 1980). In recent years it has become an important pest of oil palm plantations in SE Asia due both to prohibitions on environmentally persistent insecticides and burning of oil palm debris during replants. It has also invaded the Pacific region where it has caused major losses in coconut palms and is a significant biosecurity threat requiring quarantine controls and limiting trade. Other examples of beetles affecting coconut palm and oil palm include Oryctes monoceros found in Indian Ocean states, and Scapanes australis from Papua New Guinea. The taro beetles, Papuana spp., are endemic to Asia and the Western Pacific, but have spread into the central Pacific islands where they cause considerable damage to tropical root crops. In the case of Oryctes rhinoceros, a biocontrol virus (Oryctes virus, initially isolated from Malaysia) is employed for control of the rhinoceros beetle (first introduced into Apia, Western Samoa in the late 1960‟s). It subsequently spread (both deliberately and through auto-dissemination) to many other Pacific and Asia regions infested with O. rhinoceros. However, in new areas of invasion (e.g. Guam) the beetle appears to be virus free and control may have broken down in other areas (e.g. Samoa, Maldives). New Zealand researchers have been providing assistance in assessment of the status of virus in the pest populations and provision of pure virus for release to authorities in the Asia/Pacific region for 30+ years. The Oryctes virus biocontrol agent has been held in New Zealand prior to the HSNO legislation by both DSIR/HortResearch (now know as Plant and Food Research) and MAFTech/AgResearch, and is currently held in our Microorganism Containment Facility (MPI/MAF#480). Through our collaborative programmes we have conducted training of technicians and researchers both in New Zealand and in their home countries, and carried out collaborative research in the Pacific and Asia region. We have reached the point where it is necessary to establish measures of toxicity of biological materials (e.g. Oryctes virus preparations as a biocontrol agent) and to determine efficacy standards against particular pest species to determine appropriate application protocols for their potential utilization as a management option (both for biocontrol and biosecurity uses). Additionally, the need to further develop this research area is becoming more September 2011 EPA0061 5 Application for containment approval for new organisms important as new project initiatives are being developed, and overseas enquiries indicating a strong demand for our expertise in the biocontrol and biosecurity areas. Our