Industrial Hemp Testing, Environmental Assessments, and Interagency Advice (2020–2025)
SPENCER JONES made this Official Information request to Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited
Currently waiting for a response from Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, they must respond promptly and normally no later than (details and exceptions).
From: SPENCER JONES
Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited,
Dear ESR / PHF Science,
Under the OIA, I request the following information from 1 January 2020 to 2 September 2025:
Testing/Compliance
Any lab reports, technical data, or assessments on THC testing or compliance for iHemp, provided to MoH, MPI, or other agencies.
Environmental/Health Assessments
Any documents or advice on environmental or health aspects of iHemp (e.g., phytoremediation, emissions).
Interagency Communications
Communications with MoH, MPI, MBIE, MfE concerning hemp testing, compliance, or oversight.
Funding/Contracts
Details of any ESR projects, contracts, or MoH-funded work related to hemp.
Please identify which databases/teams were searched and keywords used, per s18(e).
Yours faithfully,
Spencer Jones
From: OIA & Privacy Requests
Dear Spencer,
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for information dated
Tuesday 2 September 2025.
PHF Science endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and
in any event no later than Tuesday 30 September 2025, being 20 working
days after the day your request was received pursuant to section 15(1) of
the Official Information Act 1982.
If we are unable to respond to your request by Tuesday 30 September, we
will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
Kind Regards,
Wendy Chung
Legal Coordinator
[1]www.phfscience.nz
27 Creyke Road, Ilam
Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
PO Box 29181, Christchurch 8540, New Zealand
New Zealand Institute for
Public Health and Forensic Science
Formerly ESR – the Institute of
Environmental Science and Research
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: PHF Science External Enquiries <[email address]>
Sent: Tuesday, 2 September 2025 1:18 pm
To: OIA & Privacy Requests <OIA&[email address]>; Wendy
Chung <[email address]>
Subject: FW: Official Information request - Industrial Hemp Testing,
Environmental Assessments, and Interagency Advice (2020–2025)
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- Download a zip file of all correspondence (note: this contains the same information already available above).
SPENCER JONES left an annotation ()
📌 FYI.org.nz Annotation – Industrial Hemp OIA Package (2020–2025)
This set of requests follows earlier OIAs (#31349 and related responses OIAD-1653 and OIAD-1707) where both MPI and MfE issued blanket refusals under section 18(e), claiming no records exist. The Ministry for the Environment later acknowledged limited consultation with MPI and MoH, but still asserted no information was held.
Given the contradictions between these refusals and publicly available information — including evidence of funding (e.g., MPI’s SFFF grants, Callaghan Innovation projects), regulatory review activity (2025 Minister Seymour review), and interagency roles already acknowledged in legislation — I am submitting a coordinated package of requests to MoH, MPI, MBIE, and ESR/PHF Science.
The purpose is to:
1. **Clarify interagency roles and responsibilities** (MoH, MPI, MBIE, MfE, ESR);
2. **Test for duplication or inefficiency** in licensing, food regulation, environmental oversight, and bioeconomy policy;
3. **Confirm existence of government funding and pilot projects** that have already been publicly reported;
4. **Ensure transparency in search efforts**, including which units/databases were checked, and whether transfers under s14 were considered.
This approach is designed to establish a clear, cross-agency record before pursuing any further escalation. It is in the public interest given hemp’s role in climate mitigation, sustainable agriculture, and New Zealand’s emerging bioeconomy.
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