What is a group standard?
Group standards are a new type of approval for hazardous substances under Part 6A of the HSNO Act. This approvals mechanism was established by the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Approvals and Enforcement) Amendment Act 2005, commonly referred to as the Macropatch Amendment.
A group standard is an approval under HSNO for a group of hazardous substances of a similar nature, or type or having similar circumstances of use. A group standard is therefore risk based rather than solely hazard based. The risk of substances in the group standard will be managed by a single set of conditions rather than by the controls set out in the HSNO regulations.
More information on the features of group standard is available.
Assigning substances to group standards
The development of the initial suite of group standards was to provide for the efficient grouping and transfer of substances notified under the Toxic Substances Act 1979 (known as Notified Toxic Substances or NOTS) on 1 July 2006.
Existing substances
For existing substances (NOTS), ERMA New Zealand will be writing to all notifiers after transfer on 1 July 2006 advising them which group standards their NOTS have been assigned to.
New substances
For a new hazardous substance that is manufactured or imported into New Zealand, it will be the responsibility of the manufacturer or importer to identify an existing group standard for that substance (if one exists). This will require the manufacturer or importer to undertake their own hazard classification using the composition of the substance and other hazard information available with the substance such as that given on a Safety Data Sheet. Any new substance that fits within the scope of a group standard is automatically deemed a HSNO approved substance. There is no requirement for a manufacturer or importer of the substance to contact ERMA New Zealand for an approval. However, if the substance contains a component that is not on the New Zealand inventory of chemicals, the manufacturer or importer must notify the Authority.
For guidance on the self-classification process refer to the ERMA New Zealand document Assigning a Hazardous Substance to a Group Standard. [pdf - 2.1MB]
For companies who would prefer not to self-classify or who wish to get some confirmation from ERMA New Zealand of their self-classification, we are offering a product classification service. See Determining the status of a substance for further information on this service.
Maintaining a record
When a manufacturer or importer of a substance determines, or is otherwise independently advised, which group standard their substance has been allocated to, they must keep a record of that determination or advice and have that record available for inspection.
This record must demonstrate the basis for assigning the substance to the group standard, and must contain enough information to allow that assignment to be independently verified. The information provided by ERMA for the NOTS will be a sufficient record to meet the requirements of this condition.
There is no obligation to submit information to ERMA New Zealand; it is the manufacturer or importer who must hold the record. We consider this is an important risk management provision to ensure self-classification is accurately undertaken and new products correctly assigned to group standards.
Substances not covered by a group standard
If a new hazardous substance is determined as not fitting within the scope of any existing group standard, then the manufacturer or importer must make an application to ERMA New Zealand for an approval to import or manufacture that substance. They may wish to make an approval for that individual substance, apply to create a new group standard, or amend the scope of an existing group standard.
Complying with group standards
The prescriptive user-friendly conditions of a group standard are designed to make compliance requirements easier for industry to understand and thus in turn easier to comply with. However, it is not intended that conditions will allow a level of compliance any less stringent than if a substance had an individual Part V approval or an approval under section 160A of the Act (transfer).
All group standards contain provisions for staged implementation. The purpose of staged implementation is to allow importers, manufacturers and users of substances a period of time to become familiar with the new group standard conditions, and to progressively implement these conditions.
If a group standard applies to a substance, that substance must comply with that standard. However, if the substance also has another HSNO approval (under Part V or Transfer Notice) users may choose instead to comply with that other approval.
Future developments
Group Standards are not limited to the transfer of NOTS. Future areas of work, which we expect to be largely led by industry initiatives, may include:
- Group Standards to capture new groups of substances not covered by the initial suite
- Group Standards for previously approved substances, i.e. individually transferred substances or Part V approvals
- Products which contain or incorporate hazardous waste (for example, manufactured articles, waste products, or manufacturing by-products) that are not currently managed under HSNO.