August 9, 2017
Agricultural chemical manufacturer Accensi Pty Ltd has been fined $100,000 for supplying herbicides containing chemical ingredients not listed in the registered formulation.
In March this year, APVMA admitted it had been notified in December 2016 by Nufarm Australia and Syngenta Australia that they were recalling several products, made by Accensi, which had been found to contain chemicals not listed in the registered formulation.
The news that APVMA knew about the contamination and voluntary recalls but had published nothing on its website caused concern among some growers.
One West Australian farmer claimed he had lost up to 90 per cent of his celery crop.
However, after media criticism, APVMA backed down and agreed to publish information about voluntary recalls of agvet chemicals.
However, APVMA Chief Executive Officer Dr Chris Parker said there was no legislative requirement for APVMA to publish information about a voluntary recall by manufacturers.
Dr Parker said on Tuesday that Accensi had settled the payment of four separate infringement notices each totalling $25,000, under section 83(1)(a) of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code Act 1994.
“These are the largest fines ever issued by the APVMA under the Agvet Code. The fines reflect that the APVMA treats issues affecting the quality of agricultural and veterinary chemicals seriously,” Dr Parker said.
“Crop protection is a multi-billion dollar industry in Australia and farmers rely on agvet chemical manufacturers and registrants to supply registered products that are safe and will work as directed to eliminate pests and weeds and improve agricultural productivity.
“So when we discovered that a manufacturer had supplied chemicals that didn’t meet the registered formulation, we investigated with the full force of the law.”
In addition to settling the infringement notice amounts, Accensi has been invited to provide an Enforceable Undertaking, regarding contamination control of all SC Herbicide products produced in the future.
Dr Parker said APVMA was continuing to work with registrants on the voluntary recall of affected agricultural products.
He said details of agvet chemicals subject to voluntary recall were published online
(Editorial note: southburnett.com.au can find no information about these recalls on the link provided)
