India FTA Unites NZ First, Greens
National’s much-touted free trade deal with India featured in the Rural Issues Debate at Mystery Creek, Hamilton on Wednesday night.
The Aviation Industry Association of NZ, whose members include commercial drone operators, says the new reforms are rushed and could put public safety, the environment and other air space users at risk.
Regulation Minister David Seymour and Associate Transport Minister James Meager say red tape was getting in the way of farmers using agricultural drones for spraying and other tasks. They claim the changes will slash burdensome red tape and make agricultural drone use for spraying cheaper, faster, and more efficient.
They add that farmers, growers and foresters have been clear that the current certification process is impractical and no longer fit-for-purpose and that existing rules have not kept pace with the evolving technological landscape.
"Drones have become an everyday tool in modern agricultural spraying, offering precise application of pesticides and fertiliser that helps minimise product wastage, while also reaching tricky terrain safely and efficiently," says Meager.
But the association says it was blindsided by the announcement and the changes do not provide the fit-for-purpose safeguards needed for this activity and could increase the risk of serious injuries, fatalities and environmental damage.
NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) executive officer Tony Michelle says agricultural drones must not become an unregulated pathway for aerial agrichemical application.
He says poorly managed operations can cause damage to other crops and infrastructure, breach environmental and regulatory controls, and jeopardise NZ's reputation for safe, high-quality primary products.
"That reputation underpins access to valuable export markets," he says.
Michelle says a national standard is urgently needed to set clear minimum requirements for pilot training, competency, chemical handling, maintenance, modifications, reporting and operational practice.
"Blanket certification for every low-risk landholder operation may be unnecessary, but allowing untrained or poorly supervised operators is an unacceptable risk. Regulation must be proportionate to risk, supporting by licensing, regular competency checks, compliance oversight and accountability," he says.
Meager says the plan is to scrap requirements for lower-risk routine drone operations to apply and wait for certification before starting work, which he claims can take up to nine months and cost thousands of dollars.
He says under the new regime only a notification to the Civil Aviation Authority ahead of time will be needed. Meager says the changes will allow routine activities such as spraying of pesticides and herbicides and the distribution of fertiliser, lime, seeds and manures across cropland, pasture, orchards, vineyards, market gardens and forests.
"These reforms build on earlier changes allowing drones under 25kg to be used for mapping, monitoring and stock shifting without certification or notification. We are now looking at ways to extend that flexibility to larger drones," he says.
He says high-risk or complex drone operations, and spraying from planes and helicopters, will remain subject to existing requirements.
The Minister is confident the new rules will strike the correct balance.
'You're Wrong, Minister'
NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) isn't buying into James Meager and David Seymour's narrative.
Its vice president, Dr Isaac Henderson, is a respected and recognised expert in drone technology.
He says the proposals fail to take account of the reality of flying drones and says the risk to life does not stop at the farm boundary, extending to neighbouring properties, public infrastructure and other airspace users.
"Agricultural spray drones are the size of a dining room table and can travel at more than 70kph and will almost certainly weigh more than 100kg when operating. What happens if a farmer operating one of these has a flyaway or system failure? That drone could strike a vehicle and result in a fatality. And who would take responsibility?"
Henderson says, likewise, a farmer can spray a paddock under an inversion layer and have that chemical travel five kilometres down the road, destroying a multi-million-dollar vineyard.
He says you don't improve national productivity by making one operation cheaper while exposing some of NZ's most valuable agricultural sectors to catastrophic losses.
