Summary of Outcomes
22 July 2011
Canberra, Australia
Risk Analysis Framework
The Advisory Board noted the development of the Risk Analysis Framework document describing current risk methodology for assessing agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines and that the CEO intends seeking further Advisory Board input on the draft.
The Advisory Board advised the CEO:
- on the issue of risk communication, the limits of risk management decisions in the different risk management areas should be clearly dealt with in the document
- to align the overall layout of the document, such as the core headings, with similar documents produced by other related Commonwealth regulatory agencies in order to present a consistent format to stakeholders
- to write the document for a broad, target audience including non-government organisations, members of the public, scientists and industry groups.
Regulatory posture
The Advisory Board noted progress with developing an APVMA regulatory posture.
The Advisory Board advised the CEO:
- that it supports the activities proposed to finalise development of the regulatory posture
- to ensure the posture is given prominence in relevant corporate documentation
- to also ensure that the posture appropriately articulates the APVMA’s regulatory position, values and behaviours and what it will expect of others
- the posture should confirm the APVMA as the industry regulator and incorporate innovation within legislation boundaries and responsiveness as an operational characteristic.
Cost recovery impact statement
The Advisory Board noted information about the timeframe, process and scope of the next cost recovery impact statement (CRIS).
Better Regulation Taskforce
The Advisory Board noted an update on the activities of the APVMA Better Regulation Taskforce.
APVMA budget 2011-12
The Advisory Board noted a summary of the parameters and content of the APVMA's 2011-12 budget.
Increased transparency and public access to Advisory Board meetings and outcomes
The Advisory Board noted the need to enhance public access to information about the Advisory Board’s role, meetings outcomes and advice to the CEO together with greater transparency of declaration of interest procedures.
The Advisory Board advised the CEO that it supports the regular publication of information about the proceedings of Advisory Board meetings, and noted:
- that key advice outcomes and discussion points from each meeting will be developed for external publication
- the APVMA will also publish updated website information about the Advisory Board and its terms of reference when available.
Other business
The Advisory Board noted information provided on the 2010-11 budget result, active constituent approval timeframes, the impacts of the current mouse plague events, a key point summary of the CEO’s recent discussions with the CEO of Animal Health Alliance. The Advisory Board also noted that information about the APVMA’s regulatory requirements and a link to the national approach for managing the Hendra virus have been published on the website.
The Advisory Board especially noted significant improvements in the APVMA’s operational performance flowing, in part, from the Better Regulation (BrT) Phase 1 labelling reforms while at the same time managing an unprecedented increase (>22%) in registration applications compared to 2009-10. The Advisory Board congratulated staff and suggested that the results be widely publicised.