Advisory Board Communiqué—5 November 2014

The APVMA advisory board met in Canberra on 5 November 2014. The meeting focussed on development of the 2015-19 corporate plan and the arrangements for the advisory board’s futures forum.

APVMA Corporate Plan

The advisory board provided further advice on the draft vision, mission and goals statements to inform the development of the APVMA’s 2015-19 corporate plan and noted that the success measures contained in the plan will be subject to forthcoming whole of government directions on performance indicators and planning.

The advisory board advised that the corporate plan should clearly align with the legislation and endorsed the principle of promoting confidence in the regulator through the APVMA’s commitment to taking a science-based approach to regulation. Members supported ensuring consistent, timely, predictable and transparent decisions for the regulation of agvet chemicals, together with being prepared for innovative technologies, whole of government performance measures and being recognised as a contemporary world class regulator.

The advisory board also endorsed developing the corporate plan in close consultation with staff as well as taking input from a variety of other sources, and noted that the plan will inform the agency’s approach to stakeholder engagement in the coming years.

Futures Forum

The advisory board noted the event program, keynote speakers and group discussion scenarios for the futures forum on 5 and 6 November 2014 and provided final input to the arrangements.

With the theme of ‘Building a Regulator for the Future’ the futures forum is focussed on what the APVMA needs to do over the next three to five years to position itself as a contemporary world class regulator.

Other matters

The advisory board also noted:

• a de-brief on the APVMA Nanotechnology Regulation Symposium held in Canberra on 28 October 2014 which facilitated positive interaction and comment from a range of participants regarding the APVMA’s draft report on regulatory considerations for nanotechnology pesticides and veterinary medicines
• discussion regarding the possible regulatory implications of the government’s Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda
• the release of the chemical review findings for fenthion.

A schedule for the advisory board’s 2015 meetings will be determined out of session.