Composition Of 1080 Reassessment Committee

Erma New Zealand Alters Composition Of 1080 Reassessment Committee

The Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA New Zealand) is to confine its 1080 decision-making committee to four Authority members.

The Authority is hearing submissions next month on an application from the Department of Conservation and the Animal Health Board to reassess the risks, costs and benefits of the use of 1080 for animal pest control.

The 1080 committee was originally to have included two outside experts – Dr Richard Sadleir, ecologist and expert on vertebrate pest management, and Mr James Doherty, a highly respected kaumatua of Ngāi Tuhoe and an acknowledged expert on tikanga Maori. Dr Sadleir and Mr Doherty will now join a panel of experts sitting outside the decision-making process.

The Chair of the Authority, Neil Walter, says the decision to have Dr Sadleir and Mr Doherty sit outside the committee has been arrived at by mutual agreement.

"The Authority has received complaints about the inclusion on the 1080 panel of people who have been associated with the use of 1080 in the past or have expressed a view on its use. This undoubtedly reflects the high degree of controversy surrounding the issue and the strength of feeling in the debate.

"The Authority retains full confidence in the integrity and impartiality of both Dr Sadleir and Mr Doherty. However, because any perception of bias by some of those making submissions might be considered to adversely affect the credibility of the process and the decision, the Authority has decided to confine the decision-making to Authority members only. It would also be unfair to expose the two experts to continued attacks on their integrity."

Mr Walter says he is disappointed that it has become necessary to change the composition of the committee. "The arrangement whereby outside experts sit on decision-making committees has worked well in the past. New Zealand has a limited pool of specialists on whom it can draw for this kind of work and in many cases there will inevitably be some past or present linkage to the substance or product under consideration. The work records of both Dr Sadleir and Mr Doherty satisfied the Authority not just that they had the requisite expertise, but that they would approach the decision in a fair and balanced way and without bias."

Mr Walter says the decision to withdraw Dr Sadleir and Mr Doherty from the committee was made after consultation with both men and with their full agreement. "They readily agreed that it would be in the best interests of all concerned, and in the best interests of the process, to make this change."

Mr Walter confirmed the Authority will have full access to the expertise of Dr Sadleir and Mr Doherty in their capacity as appointed experts in the two particularly important areas of vertebrate pest ecology and Maori concerns and interests.

"I hope that all interested parties will now feel able to focus their activities on ensuring that the 1080 panel is provided with the best possible information on 1080."

The hearings will be held in a number of locations around the country between 14 and 25 May.

Background information

Richard Sadleir has been Director of the Ecology Division of DSIR and Director of Science and Research at the Department of Conservation until his retirement in 1995. He has administered numerous research projects, some of which included studies on the effects of toxic substances on non-target organisms and their populations.

James Doherty is Chairman of the Tuhoe Tuawhenua Trust, which administers 9000 hectares of Maori freehold indigenous forest lands in Ruatahuna (Urewera National Park). He is a member of a number of Maori advisory committees advising local government and has an extensive knowledge of indigenous fauna and flora and tikanga Maori.

An economist and other specialists have also been appointed to assist ERMA New Zealand with the consideration of the 1080 application.

ENDS

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