In September 2019, Senator the Hon. Bridget McKenzie, the then Minister for Agriculture, announced a comprehensive independent review of the regulatory framework for the sale and use of agricultural and veterinary (agvet) chemicals in Australia.
The review is intended to assess the appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of the regulatory framework underpinning the operations of the National Registration Scheme; consider what the goals of Australian agvet chemicals regulation should be; consider the current and future requirements of Australia’s regulatory framework for agvet chemicals; provide recommendations for reform of the regulatory framework to increase the value of Australian agriculture and allow Australia to remain competitive in global markets.
A review such as this has not been conducted since legislation passed in 1992 established the National Registration Scheme (NRS) to ensure agvet chemicals are effective, safe for humans and non-target species, the environment, and are packaged and labelled correctly.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) is an independent statutory authority that administers the National Registration Scheme, under the oversight of the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (DAWE).
Organic farming advocates may have an opportunity to contribute to Australia’s attempts at upholding the Precautionary Principle as agreed in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992); the agreed principles of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (1998); the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs); Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, by making submissions to this review.
Australian Organic Limited’s Allowed Inputs Advisory Group are preparing a submission on behalf of the agricultural inputs sector of the Organic industry, which will be focused on reducing barriers for development and marketing of safe and effective organic farm inputs.
If you wish to comment or contribute to our submission please email our Chief Technical Officer, Owen Gwilliam.
Alternatively, if you wish to make a submission directly, you can do so via the DAWE Have Your Say website: https://haveyoursay.agriculture.gov.au/agvet-chemicals-regulatory-reform before the deadline of 28th August 2020.
