New England farmers could pay more for chemical products, and miss out on new ones altogether, under a proposed overhaul of the fees charged to register agricultural chemicals in Australia.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), based in Armidale, opened public consultation on a new Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS) this week. It sets out how the federal government’s new funding model for agricultural and veterinary (agvet) chemical regulation would work from the 2027-28 financial year.
Previously companies only paid 40% of the cost upfront, with the rest being recouped by sales-based levies. Under the new plan, chemical companies would pay the full cost of pre-market assessment upfront, while the sales-based levies would fall.
CropLife Australia, the national body for the plant science sector, said the higher upfront fees would land on growers as dearer inputs and slower access to new technology.
“APVMA proposes fee increases of more than 200 per cent, equating to hundreds of thousands of dollars for many agricultural chemical registrations, and this increase in the upfront cost of registering new crop protection products adds to the already substantial burden of bringing the latest plant science technologies to Australian farmers,” said CropLife Australia Chief Executive Officer Matthew Cossey.
“It will drive up farmers’ input costs and put our nation’s agricultural productivity and international competitiveness at risk by denying farmers access to new technologies,” Mr Cossey said.
The concern is greatest for smaller and speciality crops, where lower sales make registration costs harder to recover.
“Even where a new product has a large market in crops like wheat or barley, the new fee structure will place a handbrake on bringing it to Australia early in its commercial lifecycle,” Mr Cossey said.
“For products developed specifically for smaller or speciality crops, like fruit and vegetables, it is unlikely they will be brought here at all.”
“It will also discourage companies from seeking approval for minor uses, worsening the partial registration problem that already exists in Australia and piling further pressure onto the APVMA’s permit program.”
Mr Cossey said the plan scrapped a safeguard that had stood for thirty years.
“The previous policy deliberately limited upfront recovery of application costs to 40 per cent, precisely so fees would not deter companies from bringing innovative products to the Australian market,” Mr Cossey said.
“That safeguard has now been discarded without a shred of analysis shared with those it affects.”
He also questioned whether the regulator was operating efficiently, pointing to a proposed $8.2 million rise in its annual spending on chemical review and compliance work.
“No justification whatsoever has been offered for a cost base of this size and from any reasonable assessment no one could claim the APVMA is operating efficiently,” Mr Cossey said.
The APVMA said the changes were designed to make the model fairer and to fix cross-subsidisation, where some companies benefited from low registration costs in Australia without selling their products here.
“The proposed CRIS is about making sure our cost recovery arrangements are sustainable and fair, so the APVMA can play its critical role in ensuring agvet chemicals are safe and effective, while supporting Australian farmers to access the tools they need to stay productive,” said APVMA Chief Executive Officer Scott Hansen.
“Consultation gives stakeholders an opportunity to understand the proposed changes, test the assumptions that underpin the model, and provide evidence-based feedback on practical implementation issues,” Mr Hansen said.
CropLife would like the Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Anthony Chisolm, to step in and demand the Department properly engages with the industry to get the policy right.
“I encourage Minister Chisholm to instruct DAFF and the APVMA to fully consult and make recommendations to him for adjustments to the policy as part of the CRIS consultation process, this time with genuine engagement with the industry and the farming sector,” Mr Cossey said.
“Developing a fundamentally better policy will not only meet the needs of the APVMA but more importantly also support the industry to serve Australia’s farmers and the national interest of improving agricultural productivity.”
Consultation on the proposed CRIS is open until Friday, 4 September, with documents and submissions available through the APVMA website. The new arrangements are due to start on Thursday, 1 July 2027, subject to final approval.
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