The Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Legislation Amendment (Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority Board and Other Improvements) Bill 2019 passed the Senate on December 1.
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the bill aimed to streamline regulation for the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
“Some simple, practical changes will mean the APVMA runs more efficiently, will reduce some costs, and will mean that farmers can access safe and effective chemicals quickly,” he said.
“The bill also means a new APVMA board will be established to guarantee the performance and accountability of the APVMA.”
Mr Littleproud said the Federal Government had committed to paying the board’s establishment costs for the initial two years of operation.
CropLife Australia’s Matthew Cossey said the bill would bring about minor but important measures that were long-awaited by the Australian plant science and farming sectors.
“It took almost four years though, due to ... their dogged insistence that the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority needs a governance board — despite the APVMA’s previous board being abolished in 2007 after a comprehensive independent review — and their refusal to provide funding for the board,” Mr Cossey said.
“CropLife and our members ... do not, in principle, oppose properly considered and constructed governance structures, like boards, for regulators, but do oppose ... initiatives that impose significant costs on the farming sector and supporting industries.
“The Federal Government has at least included industry suggestions regarding the make-up and structure of the governance board and confirmed government would fund the set-up costs, however, they are only providing the funding for the first two years of operation.
“This regulator is already fully funded through industry fees and levies. If the Federal Government does not commit to fully funding the ongoing operations of the APVMA board it will be the only governance board of a federal regulator that is not government funded.”
A Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment spokeswoman said the board’s ongoing costs beyond the first two years would be met through APVMA’s cost recovery arrangements.
She said this was consistent with the Australian Government Charging Framework and with previous iterations of APVMA boards.
The spokeswoman said all other Commonwealth regulatory entities with direct responsibility for protecting human life and/or health (such as Food Standards Australia New Zealand) had governance boards.
“The absence of adequate high-level corporate oversight places an unreasonable and potentially unsustainable management burden on the position of the CEO, particularly when dealing with complex regulatory responsibilities,” she said.
“Skills-based boards provide the support necessary to assist CEOs in their vital roles.”
