Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) is a Commonwealth statutory authority established in 1993 to centralise the registration of all agricultural and veterinary chemical products into the Australian marketplace, replacing separate state and territory government systems of registration,

(ii) the APVMA's activities are mostly funded through cost recovery, in accordance with the agreement which established the National Registration Scheme,

(iii) most of the APVMA's operational income is collected from registrants of pesticides and veterinary medicines, who pay application fees to register products, and an annual fee to maintain product registrations, and also pay levies based on the annual wholesale sales value of registered products,

(iv) the APVMA uses independent expert scientific advice to inform and guide regulatory decisions,

(v) the APVMA is responsible for protecting people, animals, crops, the environment and trade,

(vi) the APVMA currently employs up to 200 people, comprising 90 regulatory scientists, officers who audit and license manufacturing premises, lawyers, compliance staff, a significant information technology section and case managers,

(vii) there is a significant training element for staff working at the APVMA,

(viii) since 2014, the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources has sought to move the APVMA to Armidale without undertaking a cost benefit analysis, and

(ix) in January 2016, the Government committed to undertaking a cost-benefit analysis; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) fulfil its commitment to an independent and transparent cost-benefit analysis, and

(ii) make the final report public before the 2016 election is called.

Question agreed to.