New Zealand to Prohibit 3 POPs under HSNO Act

The import, manufacture, or use of these three POPs and products containing them will be prohibited or restricted in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is currently consulting on the proposal to include three new persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Schedule 2A of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (HSNO Act). These three POPs are:

• Dechlorane Plus,
• Methoxychlor, and
• UV-328.

The decision of adding these three POPs into Annex A of the Stockholm Convention for elimination was made at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention held in May 2023. As a signatory to this convention, New Zealand has obligations to eliminate or restrict the production and use of POPs. New Zealand fulfils its obligations under this convention through the HSNO Act.

These three POPs are proposed to be listed in Schedule 1AA and 2A of the HSNO Act. Once the proposal is adopted, the import, manufacture, or use of these three POPs and products containing them will be prohibited or restricted. The EPA recently opened the consultation to invite the public to give their comments. Comments are welcome before September 4, 2024.

Under the Stockholm Convention, some exemptions for these three POPs are allowed. Because some of them are widely used in New Zealand, the EPA might list some of these exemptions in Schedule 2A of the HSNO Act. Proposed exemptions are summarized in the table below.