Imported or locally manufactured seed that has been coated and/or encapsulated with a surface applied technology for the purpose of preventing pest incursion or damage.

"Proposed group standard for treated seed: Consultation document"; (35 page(s), in English)

The EPA is proposing to issue a new group standard for treated seed under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (the HSNO Act). Under the HSNO Act, group standards are a type of approval for a group of hazardous substances of a similar nature, type or use. Importers and manufacturers can self-assign their substances to a group standard as long as their substances meet the conditions of the standard.

Regulating treated seed is aligned with the approaches of many international regulators.

The group standard would apply to imported or manufactured treated seed where the coating contains an active ingredient that is a component of a plant protection product, where that plant protection product has an approval under section 28A or section 29 of the Act. It will likely affect people who have previously been importing treated seed without needing an approval.

Plant protection products are defined in the proposed group standard and include, but are not limited to, repellents, pesticides, growth regulators, and biopesticides.

The group standard would include a suite of conditions relating to treated seed that people must comply with. This includes anyone importing, manufacturing, supplying, storing, using, or disposing of treated seed. To comply, they may need to add new information to their product labels and safety data sheets.

If a treated seed group standard is issued, treated seed importers and manufacturers will need to know the hazard classification(s) of the seed treatment substance. To meet the proposed scope, they'd also need to ensure that the seeds have been, or will be, treated with a substance containing an active ingredient(s) approved for use in New Zealand. Otherwise, they would need to apply for a new Part 5 approval.

The use of the group standards would require knowledge of the composition and hazards of seed treatment formulation used to coat the seed in order to ensure compliance.

Under the proposed group standard, importers would be required to annually report on the total volume of treated seed imported (in kilograms), the names of the active ingredients used to treat the seed, and the quantity of active ingredients used to treat seeds. New Zealand manufacturers of treated seed coated with a seed treatment formulation that has an existing EPA approval may choose to comply with that existing approval or self-assign their substances to the new group standard and meet its requirements instead (refer to section 96E(2) of the HSNO Act).