NFF calls for evidence APVMA move will not hurt industry

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has expressed concern the Coalition’s planned move of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) to Armidale may not be in the best interests of agriculture and has called for assurances the move will not negatively impact the sector.
The decision, announced earlier today by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, comes prior to the release of a formal review conducted by consultancy firm EY, of which the NFF was a participant.
NFF President, Brent Finlay, said the organisation was seeking assurance the relocation would not hurt Australian farm businesses.
“The NFF has always been concerned moving the APVMA would result in a loss of highly specific and skilled regulatory scientists and damage organisational continuity, which would delay the already difficult registration process for new pesticides and medicines,” Mr Finlay said.
“The NFF welcomed the White Paper commitment of $20 million to streamline chemical and pesticide registrations, but APVMA is currently completing only 51 per cent of applications for pesticides on time.
“We have real concerns this would slow further with a change in the Authority’s address.”
Mr Finlay said any delays in taking new and approved AgVet products to market would be incredibly damaging to farm businesses across Australia given ongoing issues including chemical resistance in pests and weeds.
“While we acknowledge the Coalition’s commitment of $24.1m to support the relocation, we want the findings of the EY review made available so that we can clearly see this move will not impact on approval processes and timeframes,” he said.
“We are also interested to see where this funding has been drawn from.
“The NFF supports the building of stronger regions but it must be ensured this is undertaken strategically as part of an evidence-driven plan to build the entire economy.”