Thank you for the opportunity to be here today.
I'd like to acknowledge Ministers' Hodgson and Benson-Pope, Lara and Joshua, and the entire Safekids team.
As you can see from the people here today and the brochures, posters and website, Safekids is made up of a wide range of individuals and groups from around the country - all different, but all adding their skills and commitment to the one end - keeping our children safe.
And that's the way it should be. We all know that New Zealand's statistics in this area are bad, to be blunt.
Seeing the involvement of so many organizations, both government and private, sends a strong message about the commitment that exists to turning that situation around.
Everyone wants to do their bit, where they can, because everyone wants to keep kids safe.
From ERMA New Zealand's point of view, we're proud to support Safekids.
As the organization that implements the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act - or the HSNO Act as it's commonly known- we're the group that sets the standards for manufacturers of hazardous chemical based products to follow and as such we are uniquely positioned to help.
I well remember hearing on the news of the accident that happened to Joshua back in 2004. I'm happy to say a range of changes have been made that will, in the not too distant future, make a repeat of that scenario a lot less likely to happen.
We worked with Safekids, the Ministry of Health and industry to bring in mandatory child resistant closures on dishwashing powders.
Child resistant packaging (CRP) has been made mandatory by Hazardous Substances packing regulations for corrosive substances, as well as acutely toxic substances which may be accessible to children.
Previously, child resistant packaging for domestic products was not legally mandatory and only advised by the Ministry of Health under theCode of Practice for Child-Resistant Packaging
Group Standards for hazardous substances passed in June 2006 were the mechanism that achieved this, and will apply generally from 1 July next year. This applies not just to dishwashing powders, but also domestic products.
For the highly corrosive ones like those that caused Joshua's injuries the requirement applied immediately ie. from 1 July this year.
In addition, from 1 July 2007, these highly corrosive dishwashing preparations will not be able to be supplied to the general public.
Children are by nature inquisitive, that's the way they're made. What that also means is we as adults, have to be at least one step ahead of them because at the end of the day it's our responsibility to protect them.
ERMA New Zealand is committed to doing what it can to help, and very much appreciate and support the great work organizations like Safekids does to highlight this fact.
Thank you.