Establishing an Australian crop grouping list

Background

For the purpose of scientific assessment and regulation, crops are usually grouped through similarities in their botanical classification, morphology, growth habit, the portion of the commodity harvested and/or consumed, and cultural practices. This is a common practice among international regulators and is used to streamline the establishment of data guidelines and regulatory risk assessment.

The small size of the Australian market can make the costs involved with registering an agvet chemical or its use in Australia uncommercial. This is particularly the case for treating pests and diseases in specialty crops and minor livestock species.

The Australian Government, through the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, has provided grants to the APVMA to establish an Australian crop grouping list. This page outlines the background to the project and current crop groupings arrangements.

By grouping crops together we can maximise the use of data generated in certain crops through extrapolation to a group of related crops, with little or no additional data needed where use practices are the same or similar.

This work aims to:

• reduce the cost for industry of bringing chemicals to the Australian market
• streamline addition of more crop uses during the APVMA chemical registration process, and
• give farmers, and other chemical users, greater access to the chemicals they need to manage their crops.

As a first step, the APVMA has compiled a proposed Australian crop grouping list for consultation.

Invitation for submissions

We are seeking input to confirm the completeness and accuracy of this list and, in particular, we are seeking comments on:

1. Commodities that are not listed but are currently grown or could be grown in Australia.
2. Allocation of particular commodities to certain crop groups.
3. Agreed common names which should be used in the Australian crop grouping system.

All information (including name and address details) contained in submissions will be made available to the public on the APVMA's website, unless you indicate that you would like all or part of your submission to remain in confidence.

Automatically generated confidentiality statements in emails do not suffice for this purpose. Respondents, who would like part of their submission to remain in confidence, should provide this information marked as such in a separate attachment to the submission.

A request made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Commonwealth) for a submission marked 'confidential' to be made available will be determined in accordance with that Act.

The APVMA will conduct a further consultation process in 2016 on the selection of representative commodities for each of the crop groups once established. This consultation is solely seeking comments on the individual members of each crop group.

Please send your written submissions by email or post to:

Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority
PO Box 6182
Kingston ACT 2604

Phone: +61 2 6210 4701
Email: enquiries@apvma.gov.au and include Crop Grouping Project in the subject line.