Dear all,

As included in President Graeme's report from the recent UIM General Assembly in Australia:
"One proposal to the General Assembly that was passed and is very significant, is the updating of the Anti Doping Regulations.
The U.I.M. Anti-Doping rules were adapted to the World Anti-Doping Code in 2004 to ensure a harmonized approach to anti-doping. Following the revisions made to the World Anti-Doping Code and its related International Standards, entering into effect on 1st January 2009, the U.I.M. Rules have now been updated to reflect these changes.

These rules have largely been kept at arms length within our sport as drugs have not visibly been a problem. However, the responsibilities are changing and we now must accept that we at least engage to the extent that we understand the Anti-doping Rules and accept responsibility for the administration of them. We must be aware that any section of our sport could be “spot tested” at any time without prior notification by a government agency that is required by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) to provide statistics on various sports operating within their jurisdiction.

It is therefore a requirement of these rules that all drivers that participate in our sport, whether in “an International event or events of his/her National Association” sign a form as prescribed by the U.I.M. ”accepting the Rules of the U.I.M., including the U.I.M. Anti-Doping Rules”. Such completed and signed form will be a requirement to the issuing of a competition licence.

Further detail on these requirements will be circulated by our secretary and an electronic version of the new rules shall be made available to all members."

Attached now are the following:
1/.Adopted UIM Anti-doping Rules.
2/.Acknowledgment & Agreement Form.
3/.Therapeutic Exemption Form.

We therefore require that every competitor issued with an NZPBF Licence for the 2008-2009 season (Gold Licence Cards) , sign an Acknowledgment and Agreement form . Each NZPBF member is requested to process their own respective drivers and to return the completed forms back to myself.

Any driver who takes any of the banned substances for Therapeutic reasons will also need to complete a Therapeutic Exemption Form - which will also need to be returned back to the NZPBF.

We do realise that the logistics and timing for this will present some problems, and to that end we have not fixed a deadline for compliance , however members should endeavour to complete such ASAP , and of course to include this requirement for all new Licence Applications.

"Drug Free Sport NZ" as I understand it, administer the NZ Government Laws & Policy for Anti-Doping and through SPARC it is applied to all National Sports Organisations including the NZPBF.

Anti-Doping was applied to all NZ Sports via an Act Of Parliament, so both NZ Law & the UIM Rules lock us in to compliance.
Who they would actually use to do the testing - would probably depend on the location and the nearest available lab facilities recognised to perform the appropriate processing.

With regards to which Licences it would apply to - the NZPBF Licences are those of your/our National Sports Organisation(the NZPBF) - and every RRA Licence Holder should be issued with a current NZPBF Licence Card anyway.
The short answer therefore would be yes it will automatically extend to every RRA Licence Holder.

The rules will be posted on the NZPBF Web site.

Regards
Mike Costello
Secretary
NZPBF
P.O.BOX 54061
Bucklands Beach
MANUKAU 2144
NEW ZEALAND