Regulation of Biological Control Agents in New Zealand and Australia Second International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods

Regulation of biological control agents in New Zealand is legislated by the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act 1996 and administered by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA New Zealand). In Australia the Department of the Environment and Heritage and the Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry Australia Australian Quarantine Inspection Service jointly regulate the import, testing and release of biological control agents under the Quarantine Act 1908, Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982 and Biological Control Act 1984. A comparison of the two regulatory systems highlights the pivotal role of information from the host-specificity testing in the decision making process and the valuable opportunity for researchers to interact with the public.