The regulatory process and costs to seek approval for the development and release of new biological control agents in New Zealand

The New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is responsible for regulating the importation and development in containment and release of new organisms in New Zealand. This includes exotic biological control agents. We highlight the regulatory process that biocontrol practitioners need to comply with in addition to the costs to apply to the EPA to seek approval for the development and release of new biocontrol agents in New Zealand. We discuss the structure of the costs to develop and take new microbial endophytes to control pests of economically valued plants to market and to develop and release new microbial pathogen and invertebrate biocontrol agents of weeds. We conclude by examining the benefit-cost ratio of weed biocontrol agents that were approved for release and the economic benefit of endophytes within the context of the costs to seek approval from the EPA.