21 May 2004
The Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA New Zealand) has recently established an Ethics Advisory Panel (EAP) to provide it with expert advice and assistance on applications under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act which raise ethical and cultural issues. The panel will also be involved in work by ERMA New Zealand on the development of frameworks and guidelines for dealing with such issues.
The panel consists of three members:
- Denise Church (Chair), the former Secretary for the Environment. She is now working as a company director and as a consultant,
- Professor Don Evans, Director of the Bioethics Centre, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, and
- Professor Sylvia Rumball, Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor (Ethics & Equity), Massey University.
The EAP will be concerned with HSNO specific issues and applications. Its work will thus be quite separate from that of the Bioethics Council (Toi te Taiao)., which was established in December 2002 as an advisory council to the government on cultural, ethical and spiritual issues surrounding biotechnology in general.
For further information contact Julie Watson, Group Manager - Public Awareness, ERMA New Zealand
Telephone +64 4 918 4824
Mobile 021 674 954
Facsimile +64 4 914 0433
Website: www.ermanz.govt.nz
Email: info@ermanz.govt.nz