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AgVetLink August 2004: Page 2

Recent events

• The last AVMAC meeting was held in Wellington on 20 May 2004. 
  Items discussed included proposed changes to the ACVM Act and Regulations, publication of the public release summaries for the ‘slice of life’ audits (see box at right), the reassessment of products under the ACVM Act, the AVMAC review and the latest VICH documents for consultation.

• The first meeting of the new Antibiotic Resistance Steering Group was held in Wellington on 8 July. See article on page 8 for details.

• Debbie Morris was one of the VICH task force members (representing the observer countries of Australia, New Zealand and Canada) at a recent meeting in Paris to discuss the revision of the VICH strategy and charter.

• Maree Zinzley and Warren Hughes gave a presentation covering ACVM Act operational issues and the plans for further exemption Regulations to the recent Agcarm AGM held in Wellington.

• Chris Boland gave a presentation on behalf of the ACVM Group at the Feed Manufacturers AGM in Wellington on 21 July.

• Debbie Morris attended a meeting of the ARPPA Executive in Auckland on 28 July.

• NZFSA has published a number of fact sheets on chemical residues in food. These are all available free of charge on the website ( http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consumers/food-safety-topics/chemicals-in-food/index.htm ).

• A list of products not updated to the ACVM Act is available on the website (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/registers-lists/acvm-register/exporttowebcancelacvm.xls).
  These products are no longer registered agricultural compounds or veterinary medicines (but some may be covered by the exemption Regulations).

Overdue annual fees

Invoices for 10% penalty interest for any unpaid annual fees will be posted in the first week in August.

Fee waivers of cancelled products

Even at this late stage some companies are advising that they wish to cancel products, so we are reminding registrants of the business rules concerning refund of annual charges. Once we have received notification from registrants that they no longer wish to register their product, and the applicable information has been supplied to enable us to cancel the product’s registration, a fee waiver may be applicable. The waivers are as follows:

• 75% waiver for all products cancelled by registrant and accepted by the ACVM Group in the period 2 July to 30 September 2004;

• 50% waiver for all products cancelled by registrant and accepted by the ACVM Group in the period 1 October to 31 December 2004;

• 25% waiver for all products cancelled by registrant and accepted by the ACVM Group in the period 1 January to 31 March 2005;

• No waiver for all products cancelled by registrant and accepted by the ACVM Group in the period 1 April to 30 June 2005.

The ACVM Act section 82 prohibition on importation and manufacture for any unpaid annual fees is automatic – sale of any affected products is likely to be in breach of the Act. On confirmation of the receipt of the full outstanding amount, including penalty fees, the ACVM Group will waive the prohibition.

If you have any queries in relation to what you have been charged, contact:

Nathaniel Hinde, Acting Coordinator (Business Services) ACVM Group, PO Box 2835, WELLINGTON Tel: 04 463 2553, fax: 04 463 2566 Email: nathaniel.hinde@nzfsa.govt.nz

‘Slice of life’ audits

At the request of ACVM Group Director Debbie Morris, several ‘slice of life’ audits were conducted by the NZFSA Compliance and Investigation Group during the past year.

The auditors reported on particular areas of ACVM-related activity and provided recommendations to the ACVM Group.

Public release summaries of the following audit reports are available on the website ( http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/subject/compliance/index.htm ):

• Discretionary Use of Veterinary Medicines, Products Compounded by or for the Prescribing Veterinarian, and Pharmacy-only or Restricted Human Medicines

• Oral Nutritional Compounds

• MAF Quarantine Service Clearance of ACVM Products

• Use of Specified Antibiotics Within the Pork and Poultry Industries