Inquiry into Australia’s agricultural chemical management in question

THE independence of an inquiry in Australia’s agricultural chemical management has been called into question.

Senate inquiry: The Greens cast a shadow over the finding of a senate inquiry into the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority because of political donations to the major political parties. Picture: AFP

THE independence of an inquiry in Australia’s agricultural chemical management has been called into question.

The Greens cast a shadow over the finding of a senate inquiry into the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority because of political donations to the major political parties.

Last week’s release of the political donor list coincided with the inquiry’s findings.

The inquiry examined the effectiveness of the APVMA’s process for reviewing and reassessing the safety of agricultural chemicals, including glyphosate. It recommended the development of a national plan for agricultural and veterinary pest control innovation and an independent assessment of the cost of registration of minor-use chemicals.

Greens senator Janet Rice, one of six inquiry committee members, claimed donations to political parties by chemical company Bayer and CropLife Australia had “marred” the inquiry.

The Greens also said that while they supported aspects of the committee’s majority report, “the Greens do not agree with the committee views in relation to both glyphosate specifically or to chemical safety overall”.

“The report calls the APVMA’s review of glyphosate ‘robust’, even though the agency decided not to conduct a formal reconsideration of the chemical despite the APVMA’s chief executive agreeing that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen,” Senator Green said.

“It’s also clear from the donations data released … that the independence of this Senate inquiry and indeed the APVMA is under a cloud.”

CropLife Australia and chemical company Bayer, which produces the glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup, donated to both federal Labor and the Coalition Government in 2017-18.

Bayer donated $40,600 to Labor, $27,840 to the Nationals and $14,700 to the Liberals.

CropLife Australia donated $34,271 to Labor and $22,300 to the Nationals.

CropLife Australia chief executive Matthew Cossey said the inquiry was sparked by “sensationalised and baseless media reporting” and said the weight of evidence had confirmed why the community should have confidence in the decisions of the APVMA.

In 2017 the APVMA released its final regulatory position on glyphosate, saying the “weight of evidence indicates that exposure to glyphosate does not pose a carcinogenic or genotoxic risk to humans”.