Tēnā koe Ursula Edgington,

 

On behalf of the Ministry for the Environment, I acknowledge receipt of
your email of 21 July 2017, requesting the following information:

 

Please forward any documentation from the last 10 years regarding the
required reporting responsibilities to the above international
legally-binding agreement.

 

In particular, I would like to see any reports and correspondence between
the New Zealand representative for the Rotterdam Convention (RC) and the
RC Secretariat relating to the chemical(s) defined as Fluoroacetamide and
similar toxic chemicals (e.g Sodium Fluoroacetate) used as a pesticide and
included in Annex 3 of the RC Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedures - as
defined by the RC and United Nations in the official Decision Guidance
Documents (DGD).

 

Your request will be considered according to the provisions of the
Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). You will receive a response as soon
as is reasonably practicable.

 

Nāku noa nā,

Ministerials

Ministry for the Environment

[1]cid:image001.png@01D2F705.36EF8650

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ursula Edgington
[mailto:[FYI request #6252 email]]
Sent: Friday, 21 July 2017 12:44 p.m.
To: Ministerials
Subject: Official Information request - Reporting to the Rotterdam
Convention

 

Dear Ministry for the Environment,

 

Please forward any documentation from the last 10 years regarding the
required reporting responsibilities to the above international
legally-binding agreement.

 

In particular, I would like to see any reports and correspondence between
the New Zealand representative for the Rotterdam Convention (RC) and the
RC Secretariat relating to the chemical(s) defined as Fluoroacetamide and
similar toxic chemicals (e.g Sodium Fluoroacetate) used as a pesticide and
included in Annex 3 of the RC Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedures - as
defined by the RC and United Nations in the official Decision Guidance
Documents (DGD).

 

I confirm that I am a NZ resident for the purposes of acquiring this OIA
which will be communicated via FYI.

 

Yours faithfully,

Dr Edgington

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[2][FYI request #6252 email]

 

Is [3][MFE request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Ministry for the Environment? If so, please contact us using
this form:

[4]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[5]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

*********************************************************************************************

 

Please Note: The information contained in this e-mail message and any
attached files may be confid*ential information, and may also be the
subject of legal professional privilege. It is not necessarily the
official view of the Ministry for the Environment. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this e-mail is
unauthorised. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us
immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original. Thank you.

 

*********************************************************************************************

 

References

Visible links
2. mailto:[FYI request #6252 email]
3. mailto:[MFE request email]
4. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
5. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

hide quoted sections

Dear Ursula

 

I refer to your official information request dated 21 July found below.

 

After consultation with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) we
are refusing your request under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the material
requested does not exist. 

 

I can confirm that the Ministry for the Environment does not have material
generated in the past 10 years which would be captured by your request.
 While, the EPA holds documentation from the last 10 years regarding the
required reporting responsibilities to the Rotterdam Convention, it holds
nothing in relation to “Fluoroacetamide and similar toxic chemicals (e.g
Sodium Fluoroacetate) used as a pesticide and included in Annex III of the
Rotterdam Convention Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedures” as per your
request.

 

New Zealand issued a ‘no consent to import’ for fluoroacetamide in 1993,
which is listed in the Rotterdam Convention database here:
[1]http://www.pic.int/Procedures/ImportResp...

 

Sodium fluoroacetate (1080) is not included in Annex III of the Rotterdam
Convention. Nor are there any other ‘similar toxic chemicals’ to
fluoroacetamide (or sodium fluoroacetate) listed in Annex III.  The EPA
does hold information on 1080 for the purposes of the Hazardous Substances
and New Organisms Act 1996. If you would like to see this information,
please contact the EPA on 0800 429 7827.

There is no formal reporting obligation under the Rotterdam Convention,
with the exception of a country informing the Secretariat when it places a
restriction on the import/export of a substance listed under Annex III of
the Convention, as stated in Articles 10-12 of the Rotterdam Convention.
This is communicated to the Secretariat by adding the listing to its
online database.

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Yours sincerely

Executive Relations

Ministry for the Environment 

     

From: Ministerials
Sent: Friday, 21 July 2017 1:12 p.m.
To: Ursula Edgington
Subject: RE: Official Information request - Reporting to the Rotterdam
Convention

 

Tēnā koe Ursula Edgington,

 

On behalf of the Ministry for the Environment, I acknowledge receipt of
your email of 21 July 2017, requesting the following information:

 

Please forward any documentation from the last 10 years regarding the
required reporting responsibilities to the above international
legally-binding agreement.

 

In particular, I would like to see any reports and correspondence between
the New Zealand representative for the Rotterdam Convention (RC) and the
RC Secretariat relating to the chemical(s) defined as Fluoroacetamide and
similar toxic chemicals (e.g Sodium Fluoroacetate) used as a pesticide and
included in Annex 3 of the RC Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedures - as
defined by the RC and United Nations in the official Decision Guidance
Documents (DGD).

 

Your request will be considered according to the provisions of the
Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). You will receive a response as soon
as is reasonably practicable.

 

Nāku noa nā,

Ministerials

Ministry for the Environment

[3]cid:image001.png@01D2F705.36EF8650

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ursula Edgington
[[4]mailto:[FOI #6252 email]]
Sent: Friday, 21 July 2017 12:44 p.m.
To: Ministerials
Subject: Official Information request - Reporting to the Rotterdam
Convention

 

Dear Ministry for the Environment,

 

Please forward any documentation from the last 10 years regarding the
required reporting responsibilities to the above international
legally-binding agreement.

 

In particular, I would like to see any reports and correspondence between
the New Zealand representative for the Rotterdam Convention (RC) and the
RC Secretariat relating to the chemical(s) defined as Fluoroacetamide and
similar toxic chemicals (e.g Sodium Fluoroacetate) used as a pesticide and
included in Annex 3 of the RC Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedures - as
defined by the RC and United Nations in the official Decision Guidance
Documents (DGD).

 

I confirm that I am a NZ resident for the purposes of acquiring this OIA
which will be communicated via FYI.

 

Yours faithfully,

Dr Edgington

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[5][FOI #6252 email]

 

Is [6][MFE request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Ministry for the Environment? If so, please contact us using
this form:

[7]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[8]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

*********************************************************************************************

 

Please Note: The information contained in this e-mail message and any
attached files may be confid*ential information, and may also be the
subject of legal professional privilege. It is not necessarily the
official view of the Ministry for the Environment. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this e-mail is
unauthorised. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us
immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original. Thank you.

 

*********************************************************************************************

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.pic.int/Procedures/ImportResp...
2. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
4. mailto:[FOI #6252 email]
5. mailto:[FOI #6252 email]
6. mailto:[MFE request email]
7. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
8. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

hide quoted sections

Dear Ursula

In regards to your request for clarification about "fluoroacetamide not being listed in Annex III" and it being similar to Sodium fluoroacetate.

In our previous statement we noted that the Ministry does not hold any reports to the Rotterdam Secretariat on sodium fluoroacetate. Furthermore, that the rationale for not having produced reports, is that we do not have to under the Rotterdam Convention. This is because sodium fluoroacetate is not listed in Annex III. This statement is accurate, sodium fluoroacetate is not on the annex. We did not state that fluoroacetamide is not in the Rotterdam annex.

Whilst it is true that fluoroacetamide has a similar structure to sodium fluoroacetate, they are in fact two separate chemicals. Simply because sodium fluoroacetate is similar to fluoroacetamide does not make it part of the Rotterdam Convention Annex III.

In summary, only fluoroacetamide is on the annex, not sodium fluoroacetate.

Kind regards
Executive Relations
Ministry for the Environment – Manatū Mō Te Taiao
Website: www.mfe.govt.nz 
23 Kate Sheppard Place, PO Box 10362, Wellington 6143

-----Original Message-----
From: Ursula Edgington [mailto:[FYI request #6252 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 5 September 2017 11:49 a.m.
To: Ministerials
Subject: RE: Official Information request - Reporting to the Rotterdam Convention [MfE ref: 17-D-01021]

Dear Ministerials,

Sorry, but I am confused by your response. Can you please check the clarity of your text? You say in the above that "fluoroacetamide is not listed in Annex III" when clearly it is.

My question was, because the Rotterdam Convention Annex III chemicals does indeed include fluoroacetamide (1081) and Sodium Fluoroacetate is very similar in structure (and even more toxic, because it is without antidote), what reports have NZ supplied about the widespread and long-term use of this chemical to the secretariat? If no reports have been filed, then please supply the documented rationale for this, as it seem logical and in line with the objectives of the Rotterdam Convention agreement - to share all knowledge about highly hazardous chemicals, i.e. that as fluoroacetamide IS included, then any findings about the use of the more toxic Sodium Fluoroacetate should indeed be reported to member partners..

Yours sincerely,

UE

-----Original Message-----

Dear Ursula

I refer to your official information request dated 21 July found below.

After consultation with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) we are refusing your request under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the material requested does not exist.

I can confirm that the Ministry for the Environment does not have material generated in the past 10 years which would be captured by your request.
While, the EPA holds documentation from the last 10 years regarding the required reporting responsibilities to the Rotterdam Convention, it holds nothing in relation to “Fluoroacetamide and similar toxic chemicals (e.g Sodium Fluoroacetate) used as a pesticide and included in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedures” as per your request.

New Zealand issued a ‘no consent to import’ for fluoroacetamide in 1993, which is listed in the Rotterdam Convention database here:
[1]http://www.pic.int/Procedures/ImportResp...

Sodium fluoroacetate (1080) is not included in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention. Nor are there any other ‘similar toxic chemicals’ to fluoroacetamide (or sodium fluoroacetate) listed in Annex III. The EPA does hold information on 1080 for the purposes of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996. If you would like to see this information, please contact the EPA on 0800 429 7827.

There is no formal reporting obligation under the Rotterdam Convention, with the exception of a country informing the Secretariat when it places a restriction on the import/export of a substance listed under Annex III of the Convention, as stated in Articles 10-12 of the Rotterdam Convention.
This is communicated to the Secretariat by adding the listing to its online database.

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at [2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by freephone 0800 802 602.

Yours sincerely

Executive Relations

Ministry for the Environment

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FYI request #6252 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

*********************************************************************************************

Please Note: The information contained in this e-mail message and any attached files may be confid*ential information, and may also be the subject of legal professional privilege. It is not necessarily the official view of the Ministry for the Environment. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this e-mail is unauthorised. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original. Thank you.

*********************************************************************************************

hide quoted sections