Agricultural
28 July, 2025
Farmers call for APVMA funding
NSW Farmers have warned more funding is needed to ensure the nation’s agricultural and veterinary product regulator can continue to provide access to key farm inputs.
The peak body was commenting on the latest performance report of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), released earlier this month, which revealed just 54.9 per cent of new assessments of agricultural chemicals are being completed on time.
NSW Farmers' agricultural science committee chair Alan Brown said new, ongoing funding for the APVMA was urgently needed to ensure farmers could access essential agricultural chemicals that would protect their crops and produce.
“There are all these new products out there that could save our crops from pests and diseases, but we can’t use them yet, because they haven’t been assessed or approved,” Mr Brown said.
“We don’t want to have to let Aussie families to go without fresh, healthy food, just because we don’t have the tools we need to produce it – but that’s the way we’ll go, if our regulator doesn’t have the funding it needs.”
NSW Farmers called on the Federal Government to commit $8 million annually to deliver improvements within the regulator, suggesting the APVMA’s performance would otherwise continue to restrict agricultural productivity.
“Farmers need a regulator that is transparent, efficient and adequately supported to deliver outcomes that benefit agriculture, the environment and the wider community,” Mr Brown said.
“The Federal Government claims they know how important national food security is, but they’re not giving us the tools we need to deliver it.”
In a statement, the APVMA said it finalised 83.4 per cent of applications related to pesticides within statutory timeframes in the quarter January to March 2025.
“Assessment timeframes may vary based on the complexity of the assessment, the quality of available data, or if the APVMA requires further information from the applicant,” a spokesperson said.
The regulator would not comment on the funding issue, indicating budget is a matter for the federal government.
