CropLife Australia welcomes the announcement today by Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Barnaby Joyce to establish an Agricultural and Veterinary (agvet) Chemical and Technology Innovation Centre of Excellence (CoE).

The CoE will be a regulatory science and research and coordination centre located at the University of New England (UNE). Through the establishment of a Chair of Regulatory Sciences and supporting secretariat, the CoE will bring farmers, scientists, regulators and industry together from across Australia and internationally.

The CoE will help to address the urgent need for high-level, dynamic public policy to ensure effective regulatory pathways that enable Australia’s farmers access to the latest and most modern agricultural chemistry innovations.

“Ensuring access to safe, effective and modern agvet chemicals and technologies is crucial to growing agriculture productivity, improving global competitiveness and delivering even better environmental outcomes for the nation's farming sector and the Australian community. This is why appropriate public policy and regulatory processes must be informed and developed with the support of science-based, robust expertise,” said CropLife CEO, Matthew Cossey.

The commitment of $15 million in funding over five years by the Coalition delivers on previous commitments of the Federal Government to support the relocation of the APVMA to Armidale and build, utilise and grow the UNE’s capacity in this important public policy and regulatory field.

The CoE will be a whole-of-industry engagement network, working in partnership with researchers, regulators, farmers, industry, exporters and community. The approach will improve crop pest solutions and enable more rapid access to vital crop protection products for Australian farmers. It will also provide an ideal structure for attracting and securing project specific funding from the private sector both in Australia and internationally.

“The CoE is a great example of effective collaboration between industry, regulators and researchers who have worked together over several years to develop the initiative. The UNE has a long track record of managing public-private partnerships and delivering outcomes for farmers, and the APVMA is a world-leading internationally renowned regulatory agency. The CoE will support synergies between the APVMA and universities in regional Australia. The combined significant agricultural credentials of the organisations will further strengthen Australia’s capability as a global leader in agvet chemical regulatory science,” said Mr Cossey.

“The establishment of the CoE will deliver returns to our agricultural sector for decades to come and support Australia as a farming powerhouse. I encourage all political parties to support this initiative which will benefit Australian farmers, consumers and the environment over the coming decades.”