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ACVM Amendment Bill

MAF Policy (now NZFSA Policy) has consulted on proposed amendments to the ACVM Act. A discussion paper was issued in April and submissions closed at the beginning of June. A total of 13 submissions were received. Staff will work through the submissions and respond to the comments made. A summary of the submissions received and the NZFSA’s responses to those comments will be sent to all submitters and will be made available on the website (www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm).

The submissions will be drawn on in order to propose to Government the policy for amendments to the ACVM Act. Once Government has decided on the policy for the amendments, a Bill to enact the amendments will be drafted. The Bill will then be introduced to Parliament and will be referred to a select committee for consideration. The select committee will provide an opportunity for submissions on the Bill to be made. At the conclusion of the select committee process, the select committee will report back to the House. The Bill will then move through its second and third readings. Once the Governor General signs the Bill it will become an Act.

How quickly policy approval can be gained and the ACVM Amendment Bill moves through its various stages are to an extent dependent on the parliamentary process. Cabinet sets legislative priorities for Bills. At the beginning of each year it decides which legislation is most urgent and what can wait. However, when an election is called the legislative timetable is set aside. Once a new Government is formed, a new legislative programme will be determined.

Most of the areas of concern identified in the discussion paper on the proposed amendments to the ACVM Act are not major policy changes and would not result in significant adjustments to the Act. Many are technical policy changes and others are minor amendments that are needed to correct errors, or changes that can be implemented administratively. Since the repeal of the Animal Remedies Act 1967 and the Pesticides Act 1979, however, there has been no effective legislation to manage environmental and human health risks from agricultural compounds and veterinary medicines not covered by the HSNO Act.

ACVM Fees Regulations 2002

As of 1 July 2002 the ACVM Group is operating under new fee regulations. Our regulated hourly rate has increased from $87 to $108 (excl GST) and there has been a change in the way fees are charged.

Applications will be processed on a cost versus time basis. When an application is submitted, you will be required to submit the prescreen fee of $364.50. After this you will be sent a fee module sheet and an invoice on the estimated time that it will take to process the application.

The new fee schedule can be found on the website ( www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/publications/fees/index.htm ). These fees are an estimate of the time it will take to process various types of data. This schedule will be backed up by a time tracking system to confirm the actual time taken.

At the end of the evaluation process, if the actual costs for the time taken for processing are 25% more or less than that invoiced, and the difference is greater than $150, then an additional charge or refund (as applicable) will be made.

Annual fees will be charged according to the category of use, i.e. food/crop or non-food/non-crop products. The range of annual fees that are due will be $269.50 -$ 405.50. A letter, invoice and product list will be sent out in the next few weeks.

For further information please contact your operations advisor or
Sarah Smyth
phone: 04 463 2553
email: sarah.smyth@nzfsa.govt.nz

Website

Recent updates to the ACVM website are:

• ACVM Standard for GMP, and ACVM Guideline for GMP
  Revised versions for public discussion; send comments to Brian Pidford (see insert for contact details) by 1 September
• ACVM forms revised to include the NZFSA logo
• Operational policy: Processing applications for registration or for variations in registration in regard to agricultural compounds that may be hazardous substances
• Updated fee schedule