APVMA: One in five new chemical applications not assessed on time

As many as 20 per cent of new chemical applications have not been assessed on time by the APVMA over the past two years.

One in five applications for new chemicals are not being assessed by Australia’s agricultural chemical regulator on time.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority has not met its target of 90 per cent for the proportion of major chemical applications finalised within the legislated time frame – which is 18 months for new products with a new active constituent – for more than two years.

The APVMA’s quarterly performance reports show that since the three months to September 30, 2022, the percentage of major chemical applications processed on time was between 78.1 and 86 per cent, with an average of 83 per cent.

In the previous quarter it was as high as 96.9 per cent.

Former Agriculture Minister Murray Watt issued a Ministerial Directive in July 2023 directing the APVMA to finalise eight long running chemical reviews. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

CropLife Australia, the peak industry organisation representing major agricultural chemical companies including Nufarm, Bayer, Syngenta, Nutrien and Adama, has suggested that a ministerial directive issued by former Agriculture Minister Murray Watt in July last year to finalise eight chemical reviews that have been ongoing for more than 17 years is behind the lag in new chemical sign-offs.

“The June 2024 quarter saw more than one in five major pesticide assessments going overtime, resulting in real consequences for Australian farmers trying to manage crippling weeds, pests and disease,” CropLife Australia chief executive Matthew Cossey said.

“While the APVMA must meet the full breadth of its regulatory obligations, including finalising chemical reviews, it is critical to the farming sector that this does not come at the expense of on-time performance. The fact that the assessment of new farm chemicals has suffered from continued delays risks a farm productivity crisis.”

In its response to Senator Watt’s ministerial direction, the APVMA said it would “be necessary to reallocate resources, which may affect time frame performance associated with registration-related activities”.

National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said farmers needed timely access to new technologies.

“This also ensures we are on a level playing field with our international competitors,” he said. “Any delay in access to a new product costs farmers time and money. It’s in everybody’s interest that the APVMA operates as efficiently and consistently as possible and delivers assessments in accordance with its legislated time frames.”

An APVMA spokesman said it continued to demonstrate excellent timeframe performance, “with 91 per cent of applications completed within statutory timeframes between April and June 2024”.

This target includes major chemical and non-technical assessments.

The chemical regulator has witnessed a tumultuous two years, which began with the scandalous revelation during Senate estimates that a male employee had urinated on colleagues after a staff Christmas party.

The event triggered two major reviews into the organisation, spanning the scope of its operations to governance arrangements.

Among the findings of one of those reviews, conducted by law firm Clayton Utz, were serious allegations of poor governance and workplace culture, as well as industry capture by the chemical companies.

The reviews set in chain an overhaul of the APVMA, including a new board chair and chief executive, who started in late July this year.

In a detailed response released on Monday to the three most recent independent reviews of the regulator, the Federal Government said an updated performance framework was being developed that would include new qualitative indicators as well as adherence to time frames.