BARNABY Joyce is crowing about a critical report on the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, which finds the chemical regulator falls short on a number of measures to assess its implementation of the government’s reform agenda.
The Australian National Audit Office performance review, tabled in parliament on 22 July, assessed the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority’s (APVMA) implementation of the Coalition’s reform package, designed to reduce cost to applicants and cut red tape for agvet chemical licensing.
The Audit Office found the APVMA fell short on a key reform, to switch to assessments based on the identified risk associated with the chemical or use.
It said more than 43 per cent of assessment decisions stretched beyond the statutory timeframe.
There was also a lack of oversight of a range of reform projects, which left the APVMA unable to assess its progress, inform industry effectively and ultimately, implement the required changes.
“While key legislative reforms were implemented by the legislated timeframe of July 2014, the full scope of the reform program is yet to be implemented more than four years since the legislative amendments were developed,” the Audit office report said.
Mr Joyce echoed criticisms of the agency.
“I am really disappointed that the poor implementation of the reforms by the regulator has not delivered the more efficient access to safe effective chemicals that industry urgently need and that’s why this government needs to take significant action to reform the APVMA,” Mr Joyce said.
“This audit finds significant weaknesses in how the APVMA has implemented the government’s 2014 agvet chemical legislative reforms and says the business practices, systems, risk management and governance arrangements employed by the agency are just not good enough,”
Despite Mr Joyce’s remarks, the APVMA can lay a claim for some leniency.
The beleaguered agency has battled negative headlines since Agriculture Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mr Joyce announced the policy to move the to his electorate in Armidale, NSW during the June 2016 federal election.
The APVMA is setting up a new office in the regional centre and the exodus of staff have left the agency under-gunned.
Reports state dozens of the agency’s 100 scientists have left rather than relocate and a government commissioned cost-benefit analysis in November last year found the move would cost $26 million, with no economic boost in return.
Critics including Labor’s agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon called the Armidale move a pork barrel to Mr Joyce’s New England electorate, while industry groups including the National Farmers Federation has raised concerns that the disruption and loss of staff will impact producers.
Mr Joyce said the APVMA must respond to the Audit Office’s findings to make the Armidale move a success.
“The report finds that the ongoing poor culture and governance arrangements have the potential to impact on future reforms and the success of the APVMA’s relocation to Armidale, not the other way around,” he said.
Dr Chris Parker was appointed APVMA interim chief executive in May, following the resignation of then chief executive Kareena Arthy.
The APVMA regulates a national registration scheme for agvet chemicals. It has more than 13,000 on its register. More than $3 billion in agvet chemicals are sold each year. The APVMA also regulates supply until retail sale and monitors compliance and licence conditions.