By Rich Bowden:

An environmental NGO has called on Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke and State ministers to fix the country’s national pesticides authority when they meet at a conference in Darwin tomorrow.

According to a WWF-Australia news release, the Primary Industries Ministerial Council will meet on Thursday and discuss whether to give Australia’s national pesticides regulator – the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) – expanded powers to enable it to more effectively regulate pesticide use.

However WWF-Australia has said it will not support extended powers for the national regulator until significant reform of the APVMA is carried out claiming it has been “unresponsive to health and environmental concerns surrounding dangerous agricultural chemicals used in Australia, with a number of highly toxic pesticides under review for more than 13 years.”

WWF-Australia spokesperson Juliette King said in the release that the regulator has failed to act on increasing public concern over chemicals.

“Public concern about the harmful impact of dangerous chemicals in our environment is rising. Our governments have a responsibility to respond in a timely way to these concerns,” she said.

“We are calling on the Primary Industries Ministerial Council to act decisively and urgently to reform the way we deal with chemicals. This is a once in a generation opportunity to right some wrongs of the past.”

However Ms King said her organisation was looking for a quick review of APVMA.

“One of the major failings of the APVMA is the length of time it takes to review chemicals, so the last thing we want is the review of the APVMA to also drag on for years and years,” she said.

The Federal Government is expected to use the gathering to push for a nationally regulated system of regulating farm chemicals but is expected to be opposed by the states.

Mr Burke said his Government was committed to reforming the regulator but acknowledged the difficulties it faced in gaining agreement from the states.

“The government is committed to cutting red tape and increasing efficiencies in the way chemicals and pesticides are regulated in Australia, without jeopardising human health and the environment,” he said. “The current system is complex and involves different levels of government, which is why it’s a challenge to resolve these issues.”

Tags: APVMA, australian pesticides and veterinary medicines, chemicals, pesticides, primary industries ministerial council, tony burke, WWF, WWF-Australia