CropLife Australia welcomes the Government's budget commitment today of a further smart and responsible investment to improve Australian farmers' access to crucial crop protection products.
"The Government's initial four-year $8 million investment in the 'Improved Access to Agvet Chemicals' initiative in 2013 was an important and responsible decision, helping to alleviate the regulation-generated market failure. This failure results from the high costs associated with registering products for minor uses and specialty crops not being offset by the volume of sales.
"An analysis of the US specialty crops program showed that every dollar spent by government in assisting specialty growers in the US returned more than $500 to the economy. The US model, which has been in place for more than 50 years, also facilitates greater investment by the private sector and as a result both US agriculture and tax payers win," said Mr Cossey.
"The $10.1 million federal budget commitment towards the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) digital strategy is also welcomed and will hopefully go a long way in streamlining important agricultural chemical regulatory activities. It is vitally important that this funding is, however, mapped specifically to the requirements of the APVMA following relocation to Armidale, thereby enabling the APVMA to become a next generation regulator," said Mr Cossey.
"If the Board is meant to deliver genuine efficiency then the legislation required to form the new Board should be placed in the next proposed tranche of regulatory reforms that is intended to streamline regulatory operations of the APVMA," concluded Mr Cossey.