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SMC Bulletin: Bunnings pulls pesticides
Bunnings pulls pesticides
Australian hardware
chain Bunnings has decided to stop selling neonicotinoid
pesticide products in its Australian and New Zealand stores
by the end of the year.
The
Sydney Morning Herald reported the decision last
weekend, which the company said was based on studies that
suggest neonicotinoid pesticides may be contributing to
declining bee numbers. The decision followed a petition
campaigning for Bunnings to pull the pesticides from its
shelves, but the company said it had reached its decision
independently of the petition.
Two studies, published last year in Science,
based on large-scale field experiments found mixed results
across European countries. At the time, Victoria University
of Wellington insect ecologist Professor Phil Lester said while he hoped
the Government acted on such studies, “I’d personally be
disappointed if that action was anything other than
evidence- and science-based”.
He said there were
reports from the UK that growers were reverting to
broad-spectrum pesticides “that are considered worse for
the environment and mean they cannot grow certain
crops”.
Lester told Radio NZ that
over-the-counter neonicotinoid-containing products were used
at a small scale in New Zealand, so the Bunnings ban would
have little impact. “My guess is it will have minimal
effect really in the wider scale of things. There are lots
of crops around New Zealand that utilise neonicotinoids and
it’s those big cropping systems that utilise much more and
the use of the home handy-man, or home gardener will pale
into insignificance in comparison.”
Mitre 10 has said it will
review the sale of neonicotinoid pesticides, but as a
scientific consensus had not been reached “we are guided
by regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency and
MPI”.
Quoted: NZ Herald
"Without
correctional surgery, large numbers of these dogs live with
chronic pain and distress, with many owners and breeders
unaware that their dog is suffering."
New
Zealand Veterinary Association chief executive Mark Ward
on
Trade Me's decision to ban the sale of
British and French bulldogs and pugs on its
site.
Call for bycatch video
secrecy
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash has
rejected a call by some in the fisheries industry to prevent
the public seeing footage of bycatch like seabirds and
dolphins.
On Tuesday, Forest and Bird released a letter from five industry leaders to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), which argued that information gathered through the ministry's electronic monitoring should be exempt from the Official Information Act (OIA).
The industry groups warned that there could be reputational damage to MPI and 'New Zealand Inc' through the release of video and photos of bycatch from fishing boats. They suggested the Fisheries Act be amended to clarify how information collected from fishing boats would be used and to exempt that information from the OIA.
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash rejected the call, saying "you have to be honest in the way we do things".
"I don't think covering information up is the best way to go forward. If we are catching dolphins and seals and penguins, we need to understand why this is happening and if we can mitigate that."
The industry group was also concerned about the volume of private data, including workplaces and private living spaces, captured by the system. The OIA already has provisions to protect privacy of individuals and commercially-sensitive information.
MPI has been working on how the Integrated Electronic Monitoring and Reporting System (IEMRS) will be rolled out. It is intended to capture fisheries catch, on-board fishing activity and real-time vessel location monitoring; implementation would require changes to the Fisheries Act.
Policy news & developments
National milk surveillance: The Ministry for Primary Industries will extend the current Mycoplasma bovis milk testing into a national milk surveillance programme, expected to begin in February.
Civil Defence report: A report into how New Zealand responds to natural disasters and emergencies has been released. It was started by the previous Government following the Kaikōura earthquake and Port Hills fires to review the current response framework.
More money for e-vehicles: A further $3.74 million has been invested across 20 projects aiming to get more electric vehicles on the roads, including electric campervans and an electric truck to shuttle dairy goods.
DOC joins mine appeal: The
Department of Conservation will join an appeal of the West
Coast Te Kuha coal mine project, after initially putting in
a neutral submission.
This week on the
NZ Conversation.
Why it might be time to eradicate sex
segregation in sports
Roslyn Kerr,
Lincoln University
See more NZ-authored Conversation articles.
Science Media Centre NZ
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The Science Media Centre is New Zealand's only trusted, independent source of information for the media on all issues related to science. Thousands of news stories providing context from and quoting New Zealand researchers have been published as a direct result of our work.
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