Minor Use News December 2004

Mushrooms - Opening of the Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Unit & Minor Use status

The Australian Mushrooms Growers Association Ltd (AMGA) on 8th December 2004, officially opened the Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Unit at the University of Sydney. The unit has been established to continue R&D into mushroom production, particularly the conduct of efficacy, crop safety and residue trials in support of pest management strategies and new chemistry for minor use permits and product registration.

Additionally the APVMA during 2004 considered a request from the AMGA to have mushrooms reclassified as a minor use under Schedule 1 of the existing Guidelines for Determining Minor Uses. Based upon information and industry background provided by the AMGA the APVMA concluded that based upon the low area under cultivation and low pesticide usage in the Australian mushroom industry that mushrooms can be reclassified as a minor use commodity.

The current Guideline for Determining Minor Uses was developed by the APVMA in 2000, which at the time considered a myriad of statistics including; farm-gate value, area and/or tonnage of production, value of export and dietary intake. Mushrooms ranked as a major commodity primarily based upon the high value of the industry (farm-gate value), being third only to potatoes and tomatoes respectively in the vegetable sector.

Current legislation defines a minor use as;
“a use of the product or constituent that would not produce sufficient economic return to an applicant for registration of the product to meet the cost of registration of the product, or the cost of registration of the product for that use, as the case requires (including, in particular, the cost of providing the data required for that purpose)”.

Given the initial guideline was developed in 2000, and with data protection legislation anticipated for 2005, plus an increased focus being placed on minor use by the APVMA a review of the Guideline for Determining Minor Uses is warranted and will be undertaken in 2005. Since a broader review of the guideline will be undertaken the APVMA at this stage will not be updating the current guideline until that review is complete, although this reclassification for mushrooms as a minor use commodity is effective immediately.

Classification as a minor use commodity provides an avenue to apply for Minor Use Permits and reduced data requirements with respect to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) for residue studies (for either registration or permits). However, it is important to note that classification as a minor use commodity does not waiver relevant data requirements. The APVMA must still be satisfied that a proposed use meets current legislative requirements, importantly that the proposed use:
(i) would not be an undue hazard to the safety of people exposed to it during its handling or people using anything containing its residues; and
(ii) would not be likely to have an effect that is harmful to human beings; and
(iii) would not be likely to have an unintended effect that is harmful to animals, plants or things or to the environment;
(iv) would not unduly prejudice trade or commerce between Australia and places outside Australia; and
(v) would be effective for the intended purpose.

In encouraging the approval of more minor uses the APVMA can consider applications with reduced data requirements, provided these are scientifically supported and do not comprise legislative requirements. This may include the consideration of international data and associated registrations, and data extrapolations from similar commodities and/or pests and diseases approved in other crops.

The APVMA welcomes the work undertaken by the AMGA in addressing pesticide related issues in a national context, be it for new chemistry or chemicals currently under review, which will be further enhanced by the recent opening of the Marsh Lawson Mushroom Research Unit.