As announced by the APVMA on 17 June 2013, the new application fees and levies will be introduced this year, starting from 1 July 2013, despite the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Australia delaying until 1 July 2014 the implementation of new regulations, as outlined in the 'Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Legislation Amendment Bill 2012'.

The new cost recovery arrangements were first described in the Cost Recovery Impact Statement (CRIS), published originally by the APVMA on 29 November 2012. They were to coincide with the commencement date of the Bill, which was set initially to 1 July 2013. When debated in the lower house of the Parliament on 15 May 2012, the commencement of the Bill was delayed one year, until 1 July 2014, to give sufficient time for the APVMA to properly implement new regulations and to communicate appropriately with the stakeholders about those implementations. Now the Bill is before the Senate and will be debated next week, which is the last seating week of the Parliament before the federal elections (to be held on 14 September 2013).

As outlined by the APVMA, the delayed commencement of the Bill will impact only on the fees and charges associated directly with the changes proposed in the Bill (re-registration and re-approval, pre application advice and subsequent advice, as well as electronic conversion of hard copy applications). All other fees and charges will be implemented as originally proposed in the CRIS (see Table 1).

Table 1: Revised implementation dates

As a result, the APVMA application fees and levies will change from 1 July 2013 (see Table 2), in order to restore the original policy intent that 40% of the APVMA costs should be funded by an upfront application fee, with the remaining 60% recovered as the levy on annual sale.

The implementation will occur in three phases:
phase one from 1 July 2013: an increase of all fees to at least 30% of the cost of undertaking the activity;
phase two from 1 July 2014: an increase of all fees to 35%;
phase three from 1 January 2015: an increase of all fees to 40%.

Table 2: Implementation of new application fees (only non-modular categories and screening module shown)

The levy tier 1 for annual product sales up to A$1million will change from 0.80% (paid in 2012-13 based on sales during 2011-12), through 0.70% (paid in 2013-14 based on sales during 2012-13), to 0.63% (paid in 2014-15 based on sales during 2013-14). The levy tier 2 for annual product sales between A$1million and A$5million will change from 0.45% (paid in 2012-13 based on sales during 2011-12), through 0.40% (paid in 2013-14 based on sales during 2012-13), to 0.35% (paid in 2014-15 based on sales during 2013-14). The levy tier 3 for annual product sales greater than A$5million will change from 0.30% (paid in 2012-13 based on sales during 2011-12), through 0.28% (paid in 2013-14 based on sales during 2012-13), to 0.25% (paid in 2014-15 based on sales during 2013-14).

About AGROconsulting:
With their unique scientific, chemistry and regulatory expertise, AGROconsulting (http://agroconsulting.com.au) can assist in successful registration of the agrochemical products and active constituents in Australia. They advise on required data, prepare relevant documentation, fill appropriate forms, collate all relevant data in the format required, send the application to the APVMA and transfer appropriate application fee, liaise with the regulatory authorities, and report on the progress of the registration process. When Chemistry and Manufacture data package is required for the application they evaluate relevant information and provide a detailed assessment report to the client. Therefore, the applicant has a chance to address all deficiencies and correct the application well before it is sent to the APVMA.