New insecticide approval adds another tool to the pest control arsenal
Effective pest control has always been a balancing act between efficacy, environmental responsibility and practical application. Whether the target is a long-established nuisance species or an exotic pest with the potential to create significant economic damage, the challenge remains the same. Operators need products that work reliably while regulators need confidence that risks can be managed appropriately.
That balance sits at the centre of a recent decision by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to approve Seclira WSG for use in New Zealand, providing professional pest control operators with access to a new active ingredient not previously available in this country.
Manufactured by BASF New Zealand, Seclira WSG contains dinotefuran at 400 g/kg and has been approved as a water-soluble granule insecticide for spot-treatment applications in and around buildings. The product is designed for professional use only and is intended to control a wide range of insect pests including ants, wasps, fleas, mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, bed bugs and numerous crawling insects.
While pest control products are often associated with urban environments, the approval has wider significance because it introduces a new chemistry to New Zealand's pest management sector and provides an additional option for dealing with invasive species that could threaten agricultural production, trade and biosecurity.
One of the most notable targets identified by BASF is the brown marmorated stink bug, an insect that continues to be regarded as one of the highest-risk biosecurity threats facing New Zealand. The pest has established itself across parts of North America and Europe where it causes substantial damage to horticultural crops and creates significant nuisance issues in homes and buildings.
BASF highlighted the product's potential role in biosecurity responses, describing Seclira WSG as an important new tool should New Zealand ever face an incursion of the brown marmorated stink bug.
The EPA's assessment recognised this benefit. In its decision document, the authority concluded that the product could provide both biosecurity and economic benefits to New Zealand, particularly in the event of a brown marmorated stink bug incursion. The EPA assessed those potential economic benefits as moderate to high while determining that the overall benefits outweighed the identified risks when appropriate controls were applied.
For contractors and pest management professionals, the approval is also significant because dinotefuran belongs to the neonicotinoid family of insecticides, representing chemistry that has not previously been available in New Zealand. The product has already been approved for similar uses in Australia, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, providing regulators with substantial international experience to draw upon when assessing its performance and safety profile.
The approval follows a lengthy assessment process. BASF originally lodged the application in 2021 and the EPA formally received it in December 2023. During the evaluation, government agencies including the Ministry for the Environment, Ministry for Primary Industries, Department of Conservation and Ministry of Health were consulted, alongside WorkSafe New Zealand.
A key feature of the EPA's decision was the recognition that Seclira WSG is intended as a highly targeted treatment rather than a broad-scale spraying product. Spot treatments involve small-scale manual applications to localised areas and exclude broad-acre spraying methods such as boom spraying, air-blast application or aerial application. The product can be applied using handheld sprayers, knapsack sprayers or spray tanks.
That limited application pattern played a major role in the EPA's assessment of environmental and human health risks.
Dr Shaun Presow, acting hazardous substances applications manager at the EPA, said a wide range of New Zealanders would welcome another tool for controlling insect pests.
“Risks to the environment can be managed with controls that the EPA has set, along with any risks to human health.”
The EPA's detailed assessment concluded that risks to operators, bystanders and people re-entering treated areas were negligible when the product is used as intended. The authority noted that exposure levels were low and that the localised nature of applications significantly reduced potential impacts.
Environmental considerations received particularly close scrutiny because dinotefuran is highly toxic to aquatic organisms and certain non-target insects. As a result, the approval includes a series of controls designed to minimise environmental exposure and protect beneficial species.
Among those controls are requirements that the product only be applied through ground-based spot-treatment methods and that outdoor applications cannot occur if heavy rainfall exceeding 100 mm within a 24-hour period is forecast within the following 72 hours. These restrictions are intended to minimise the possibility of runoff entering waterways or sensitive environments.
The EPA also imposed specific groundwater advisory statements because both dinotefuran and one of its metabolites have characteristics associated with chemicals that can leach into groundwater under certain conditions. Users are directed to follow New Zealand's agrichemical management standards when operating in areas with permeable soils or shallow water tables.
Protection of pollinators was another major focus. The approval requires clear label statements advising that the product is highly toxic to bees and must not be applied directly onto bees, beehives or bee nests. Where managed hives may be affected, beekeepers must be notified 48 hours before application and hives must remain away from treated areas for at least 48 hours after spraying.
The EPA acknowledged that while some risks to non-target arthropods and groundwater remain, those risks are considered low and can be effectively managed through the controls that accompany the approval. Overall, the authority concluded that the risks to aquatic environments, soil organisms, birds, bees and human health are negligible when the product is used according to label instructions.
For the pest management sector, the arrival of Seclira WSG reflects a broader trend towards increasingly targeted pest control solutions that combine strong efficacy with tighter controls around environmental stewardship. As biosecurity pressures continue to increase and invasive species become an ever-present concern, having access to additional tools can be valuable both for routine pest management and for responding rapidly when new threats emerge.
While the product will not be available to the general public and remains restricted to professional operators, its approval gives the industry another option at a time when maintaining effective pest control remains critical across domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural environments.
EPA Chief Executive Dr Allan Freeth ultimately concluded that the benefits associated with Seclira WSG outweigh the risks and costs, approving the product with controls after what the authority described as a robust evidence-based assessment process. For professional operators, that decision means a new chemistry has entered the New Zealand market, bringing another tool to help manage both everyday pest challenges and future biosecurity threats.