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AgVetLink February 2003

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Post-harvest treatments

At present the ACVM Group's interpretation of the definition of an agricultural compound used post-harvest only includes compounds used for pest control and disinfestation on primary produce.

However, it has been argued to us that all post-harvest treatments should be agricultural compounds. This recognises that there may be risks under the ACVM Act posed by other post-harvest products, such as the potential for residues and unac-ceptability of unregistered products used in official spray programmes for export.

Initial public discussion on proposed amendments to the ACVM Act supported the inclusion of other post-harvest treatments as agricultural compounds, and policy development on the amendment has begun. Because it seems likely that all post-harvest treatments will become agricultural compounds, we would have no objection to companies making applications for registration of such products if they would otherwise be disadvantaged. If you have previously had a class determination for a product in this situation, indicating that it did not require registration under the ACVM Act and you now wish to revisit this class determination outcome, please contact us.

This decision will be reviewed soon after any amendment is made, or prior to 2 July 2004, to ensure that the amendment and recent registration decisions are consistent. Further comments on the inclusion of other post-harvest treatments as agricultural compounds may be submitted at any time. Please contact Sarah Lester (sarah.lester@nzfsa.govt.nz) if you have any questions.

 

Milk withholding period statement

There was a significant response to the article that appeared in the December 2002 issue of AgVetLink requesting comments on the proposal to alter the current milk withholding period (WHP) statement and to move away from the emphasis placed on individual animal testing currently featuring on some product labels.

The comments focused primarily on the complex relationship that exists between the number of milkings and hours that must elapse before milk from treated animals is eligible for sale for human consumption, particularly in relation to different milking regimes that may be placed at any particular time. The overwhelming consensus was that the proposed statement would not help to clarify this relationship and was more likely to lead to further confusion. There was a general consensus of the limited value of individual cow testing to determine the return of treated animals to the milking cohort.

In consequence, the ACVM Group has abandoned the proposed statement and is considering the development of administration route-specific WHP statements. It is known that the way in which residues are depleted in, and excreted from, the body is dependent on the active substance, excipients and route of administration. The importance of these differences and their relevance to the number of milkings and/or hours that must elapse before milk is eligible for human consumption is under investigation.

The ACVM Group is working with the NZFSA Dairy team to develop a discussion paper and is seeking expert opinion on its content. The outcome of these initial discussions and a request for public submissions will be made in a future issue of AgVetLink.

 

Register of products on website

Although the ACVM Group does its best to ensure that information appearing on the public website is 'label' level information and not that which is considered confidential or commercially sensitive, there was an instance recently where some information was entered in error.

We are making plans to change ISAC (our support information system) to provide more checks and balances, but we would ask that registrants make a point of checking details of any registered products, especially those newly registered, and to let us know asap if there are any problems.

Contact Maree Zinzley, Programme Manager (Operations) (phone 04 463 2564 or email maree.zinzley@nzfsa.govt.nz) with any queries or concerns.

Until all products are updated to ACVM registrations, we are working with a mix of old and new data requirements, which makes the current period especially difficult.