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Significance of notification under the Toxic Substances Act 1979

Prior to the commencement of the ACVM and HSNO Acts, parties were advised to submit a notification under the Toxic Substances Act 1979, commonly known as NOTS, of any chemical being used in New Zealand. (Registered pesticides did not need to be notified because they are explicitly captured by the HSNO transitional provisions.) The chemical had to be notified only once by each company manufacturing or importing that chemical. Notification was usually done by the proprietor or manufacturer of products using the chemical in question. Notifications under the Toxic Substances Act had to be lodged with the Ministry of Health, and ERMA NZ has been receiving the notifications on behalf of that Ministry until 1 July 2001 when the HSNO Act commenced for hazardous substances. The transitional provisions in the HSNO Act recognised the notifications as the appropriate mechanism to maintain the legality of products after commencement of the HSNO Act. This was particularly important for animal remedies because no specific transitional provisions for animal remedies were incorporated into the HSNO Act as were provided for pesticides.

There has been some misunderstanding about the significance of the notifications under the Toxic Substances Act. Some parties have incorrectly believed that a NOTS constituted a transfer into the main framework of the HSNO Act. A notification under the Toxic Substances Act does not constitute the actual transfer. All parties should be aware that, if a notification of a chemical was lodged with the Ministry of Health or ERMA NZ prior to the commencement of the HSNO Act, the chemical (or product containing the chemical) is still legal and can be transferred into the main framework of the HSNO Act during the transition period. However, if a notification was not lodged for a particular chemical, it is too late to do so, and the chemical (or product containing the chemical) has been illegal since the commencement of the HSNO Act. If you are concerned that the latter may be the case, you should contact an applications adviser at ERMA NZ to discuss the consequences.

Some parties have also incorrectly believed that notifications under the Toxic Substances Act were necessary to transfer animal remedy licences or pesticide registrations to ACVM registrations. Again, we stress that this is not the case. NOTS are irrelevant to the transfer of licences and registrations under the ACVM Act. Transfer of licences and registrations to ACVM registrations will progress without regard to NOTS.