Applying agrichemicals in New Zealand engages several regimes simultaneously, which is why operators frequently comply with one and breach another. Hazardous substances law sets controls on the substance, regional plans set rules on discharge to air, workplace law covers those handling it, and ordinary civil liability applies if it lands on someone else’s property.
The hazardous substances layer
Agrichemicals are hazardous substances regulated under the HSNO regime administered by the Environmental Protection Authority, with workplace aspects enforced by WorkSafe.
Controls attach to the individual substance and are set out on the approved label. That label is a legal document, not marketing material. It specifies application rates, permitted uses, personal protective equipment, withholding periods and restrictions, and departing from it is an offence in itself.
Depending on the substance and quantity held, requirements can include approved handler certification, location test certificates for storage, signage, secondary containment, emergency response planning and inventory records.
The regional plan layer
Spraying is a discharge to air, which is regulated by regional councils. Every regional plan contains rules on agrichemical application, and they differ.
Typical provisions cover buffer zones and setbacks from boundaries, waterways and sensitive areas; wind speed limits; notification requirements for neighbours and for people on sensitive areas registers; signage; and requirements for records.
Because these are regional, an operator working across boundaries — common for contractors — is working under more than one set of rules. Confirm the rules for the district you are actually spraying in.
Many regional plans reference the agrichemical management standard NZS 8409, and compliance with it is frequently the pathway to a permitted activity status. Where an operator does not meet the permitted conditions, a resource consent is required.
Certification and competence
Training and certification — commonly the GROWSAFE certification framework — is required or referenced in many contexts, including by regional rules, by the approved handler requirements for certain substances, and by supply programme audits.
For contractors, certification is effectively a condition of doing business, and clients increasingly ask for evidence.
Records
Spray records are the single most important control an operator has, because they are the evidence in every dispute that follows.
A usable record includes date and time, product and active ingredient, rate and total quantity, area treated, equipment and nozzle setup, operator, wind speed and direction, temperature, and any notifications given.
When a neighbour complains of damage, the operator with contemporaneous records showing conditions within limits is in a fundamentally different position from one relying on recollection.
Drift and liability
Spray drift onto neighbouring property can produce several simultaneous consequences: a breach of regional plan rules, a HSNO offence, a claim in nuisance or negligence for damage caused, and in horticulture and viticulture a very large loss if the affected crop is organic or subject to residue-sensitive market requirements.
The scale matters. A drift event onto a certified organic block or a vineyard approaching harvest can destroy a season’s crop value, and the resulting claim will substantially exceed the value of the work being done.
Practical risk management:
- Know your neighbours’ land use and any organic, residue-sensitive or sensitive-area status.
- Notify before spraying where required, and as a matter of practice where not.
- Do not spray outside the conditions, however tight the window. Wind and temperature inversion are the two conditions that produce most drift events.
- Use drift-reducing nozzles and technique, and record what you used.
- Check your insurance actually covers spray drift liability, since exclusions are common.
Workplace duties
Anyone handling agrichemicals is exposed to a health hazard, and the Health and Safety at Work Act applies. That means substance-specific risk assessment, correct PPE that is maintained and actually used, training, exposure monitoring where warranted, and health monitoring for certain substances.
The relevant hazardous substances regulations also require an inventory, safety data sheets accessible to workers, and emergency response arrangements.
Where to check
The EPA publishes hazardous substances controls and the register of approved substances, WorkSafe publishes hazardous substances guidance for workplaces, and each regional council publishes its own agrichemical rules. All are free, and the regional rules are the ones most often overlooked.
General information only, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your regional council and the EPA.
