Aerial 1080 Pest Control Industry Guidelines

NPCA published the aerial 1080 guidelines in April 2011 following an 18-month process of development, overseen by a steering committee. The committee comprised representatives from the National Pest Control Agencies (NPCA), the Animal Health Board (now OSPRI's TB-Free New Zealand), Local Government, Biosecurity New Zealand (now part of MPI) and the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA New Zealand).

The aerial 1080 guidelines were developed in consultation with technical experts from regulatory and operational agencies, the pest control industry, farming groups and the aviation industry.

The guidelines were a response to the ERMA New Zealand recommendation in its 2007 decision on the reassessment of 1080 that “management practices around aerial drops of 1080 be standardised around industry or operational best practice”. They were, therefore, prepared primarily for practitioners involved in managing and undertaking aerial 1080 pest control, to provide them with:

• an overview of best practice,
• a framework for managing critical risks, and
• guidance on the regulatory requirements that must be met.

The document is about the matters that need to be addressed once a decision has been made to undertake an aerial 1080 drop. Its focus is on risk management at all the stages of an aerial 1080 operation, which include:

• the pre-operational planning, consultation and obtaining of consents and permissions;
• the practical preparation for carrying out the drop;
• the aerial 1080 operation itself;
• the post-operational monitoring, communication and reporting.

The draft guidelines were released for comment in August 2010 and public submissions considered before final publication.