On 9 October 2014, the Department of Agriculture released a draft Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) for consultation on Reducing the Regulation of Stock food and Pet food. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) regulate supply aspects of foods for livestock, pets, working animals, show animals and for any product that meets the definition of a Veterinary Chemical Product. The RIS discusses the case for reform to achieve greater alignment of regulatory effort and burden associated with stock foods given the risks posed by these products. The RIS explores two alternative options for reform:
- self-determination of Veterinary Chemical Products in which manufacturers would be allowed to self-determine a product’s registration, subject to the product meeting certain requirements relating to claims, labels, manufacture and ingredients; and
- listing of nutritional/digestive stock food products as chemical products with prescribed criteria similar to the self-determination process but retaining APVMA pre-assessment.
The RIS seeks stakeholder views on the costs and benefits of the options presented. The department is seeking written stakeholder comments on both the RIS and draft regulatory amendments by 7 November 2014. The proposal has been assessed as likely to have a measurable but contained impact on the economy. The OBPR has agreed to provisional regulatory cost savings of $7.8 million per annum for the self‑determination option.
242 KB]
445 KB]