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AgVetLink: Number 60, February 2007

Amendment to the ACVM Act

Proposals for change to the ACVM Act were the subject of public consultation 18 months ago. Most of the proposals were designed to improve the efficiency of administration of the Act and to ensure that there were sufficient, clear statutory powers to achieve the intent of the Act.

As mentioned on page 4, Select Committee will soon begin to consider the ACVM Act Amendment Bill and submissions received. Select Committee will be considering, among other things, such matters as:

1. introducing a relevant public health risk area into the purpose of the Act to ensure that issues such as antibiotic resistance and the use of agricultural compounds to enhance the health and health status of people in New Zealand can be addressed effectively;

2. simplifing declarations at the border so that they can be made valid without recourse to a Notary Public;

3. introducing two new mechanisms to regulate agricultural compounds that do not have the characteristics of trade name product that should be registered;

4. introducing a power to set standards, via a transparent and predictable process, to make it clear what is expected of persons and systems in regard to statutory obligations and that can be used to assess the appropriateness of codes of practice; and

5. introducing powers to suspend registration in the face of serious non-compliance and the recall of product if necessary to address an immediate threat of harm.

The Select Committee will also be considering the introduction of the following new offences:

• concerning importing or manufacturing practices that are in contravention of the Act;

• withholding information;

• increasing the severity of providing false information;

• concerning the new mechanism for regulatory control mentioned above; and

• concerning non-compliant activities while registrations are suspended or during a product recall or after a registration or other approval has been revoked.

It is anticipated that Select Committee deliberations will progress relatively smoothly and the Bill will be reported back to Parliament and possibly passed by the third quarter of this year.