News

Changes to ag-vet chemical regulator spark debate

Beef Central 30/11/2012

The Federal Government says new legislation introduced to Parliament this week will modernise the Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority and better protect human, animal and environmental health.

The Coalition however is concerned the new legislation surrounding the chemical regulator has ignored stakeholder concerns and will massively increase regulation, the cost of chemical registration and add another layer of red tape.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, said the Government’s Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Legislation Amendment Bill 2012, introduced into the House of Representatives by Parliamentary Secretary Sid Sidebottom yesterday, will modernise the APVMA's functions and will make the chemical assessment process more transparent and easier to understand.

“Reforms to existing AgVet Chemical legislation will ensure our regulatory system is more predictable, effective and responsive,” Minister Ludwig said.

“Pesticide use is part and parcel of farming. Improving the way we regulate and assess those chemicals means they can be used in a safer and more effective way.”

Minister Ludwig said decisions on chemicals will be made more transparent and chemical registrations will be checked regularly.

For the first time, the Bill will introduce mandatory re-registration for agricultural chemicals such as pesticides and veterinary medicines registered in Australia.

“Our reforms are about modernising the system for industry and making sure farmers, the community and other land holders have the best possible AgVet chemicals available to them,” he said.

“At the same time, reforms will provide greater certainty to the community that pesticides and veterinary medicines used in Australia are safe.”

Minister Ludwig said the reforms will encourage the development of more modern and safer chemicals.

“Environment, community, chemical industry and farming groups, as well as state and territory governments, all made significant contributions to this Bill,” he said.

The government is providing approximately $8.8 million over four years to the APVMA to support implementation of the reforms.

The Bill means that registration applications made after 1 July 2013 will be assessed under the modernised law.

The Bill also extends data protection to ten years for certain applications.

The coalition says the new measures will increase the cost of chemical registration by one third or around $8 million dollars.

“This is despite the minister for finance and deregulation, Penny Wong, listing Agvet chemical reform in the 2012 update on the Australian Government deregulation agenda as a key example that will reduce regulatory compliance costs for businesses and improve their competitiveness,” a spokesperson for shadow minister for agriculture and food security, John Cobb said.

“The reform process was supposed to address two key areas; the cumbersome assessment and registration process to make it more cost efficient for business and to provide industry with timely access to the best and safest crop and animal protectants; and slowness of review of chemicals identified with potential environmental and safety hazards.

“However the new legislation instead focuses on adding another layer of red tape with an automatic 7-15 year review process.”

To view more information about the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 click here

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