Welcome to the first edition of Growcom’s Infopest News for 2022. The festive season may be generally quite as most are having a break for the end of the year, but there has been much happening in chemical access since our last newsletter: new actives and products being assessed for registration, new agvet legislation being passed, and an Ag Chem Update published for December.

I was reminded recently that Growcom took ownership of Infopest in early 2012 so we have recently celebrated our 10th birthday! Thank you once again for your support of Infopest as we enter into this our 11th year of service provision.

APVMA considering three new products and two new active constituents – Mateno Complete Herbicide, Danisaraba Miticide, Telbek Adavelt active Fungicide with florylpicoxamid, and isotianil

Mateno Complete Herbicide is a new ag product based on active 400 g/L aclonifen, 100 g/L pyroxasulfone, 66 g/L diflufenican for the pre- or post-emergence control and suppression of various grass and broadleaf weeds in wheat (not durum wheat) and barley.
Gazette No 3, Tuesday 8 February 2022 (apvma.gov.au)

Danisaraba Miticide is another new ag product, containing a new active constituent, cyflumetofen. Registration of a 200 g/L suspension concentrate agricultural chemical product for the control of various species of mites in pome fruits, almonds, citrus, grapes, fruiting vegetables, strawberries and ornamentals is being considered.
Gazette No 25, Tuesday 14 December 2021 (apvma.gov.au)

Florylpicoxamid and registration of new product, Telbek Adavelt active Fungicide with 100g/L florylpicoxamid emulsifiable concentrate agricultural chemical product for the control of septoria tritici blotch (Zymoseptoria tritici) in wheat is being considered.
Gazette No 1, Tuesday 11 January 2022 (apvma.gov.au)

Isotianil is a new active and a systemic fungicide, belonging to the thiadiazole carboxamide chemical class. It induces the plant defence mechanisms against a wide range of fungal diseases. It is used for the control of rice blast, bacterial leaf blight and bacterial grain rot in seedling boxes.
Special Gazette, 15 February 2022 (apvma.gov.au)

New agvet chemical legislation

The Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Legislation Amendment (Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority Board and Other Improvements) Bill 2019 (Improvements Bill) passed through Parliament on 1 December 2021.

The Improvements Bill includes measures to:
• establish a governance board for the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA)
• allow for prescribed approvals and registrations for chemicals of low regulatory concern
• provide for extensions to limitation periods and protection periods as an incentive for chemical companies to register certain new uses of chemical products
• allow for computerised decision-making by the APVMA
• simplify industry reporting requirements for annual returns.

On 7 December 2021, the Improvements Bill received the Royal Assent and is now the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Legislation Amendment (Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority Board and Other Improvements) Act 2021. The Act will be available on the Federal Register of Legislation and incorporated into the compilations of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code Act 1994, the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Administration) Act 1992 and the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemical Products (Collection of Levy) Act 1994.
Implementation of the measures will be staggered, with some to commence on Royal Assent or within the next 3, 6 or 12 months.

A list of measures and the expected implementation date is available on the APVMA website.

The APVMA will continue to keep stakeholders updated as measures commence and are implemented. Stakeholders are encouraged to subscribe to receive email updates from the APVMA to be notified as this occurs.

Questions about the Improvements Bill and related measures may be directed to Enquiries@apvma.gov.au

AgChem Update December 2021

Hort Innovation project, MT20007 – Regulatory Support & Response Co-ordination’s project leader, Kevin Bodnaruk has released an update for December which can be found here. It includes international updates, national regulatory update, APVMA chemical review, label extensions and registration, APVMA permit to label project, and strategic agrichemical review process updates
ag-chem-update-december-2021.pdf (horticulture.com.au)

The impact of climate change on plant pests

A scientific review on the impact of climate change on plant pests found that plant pests will continue to spread, becoming more destructive and posing an increased threat to food security and environment.

The review done by Professor Maria Lodovica, University of Turin (Italy) and ten co-authors from around the world was one of the key initiatives of the International Year of Plant Health, coming to an end this month.

Download the review: http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb4769en

Myth busting on pesticides: Despite demonization, organic farmers widely use them

A product search of Infopest with the word “organic” results in 47 current registrations and permits that are approved for use in organic situations at the time of writing. These consist of product containing oils, mild acids, minerals, plant extracts and naturally occurring viruses. An article by Andrew Porterfield in the Genetic Literacy Project advocates that many consumers believe one principal “advantage” of organic food over genetically modified conventionally grown crops is that organic foods are free of pesticides. Myth busting on pesticides: Despite demonization, organic farmers widely use them – Genetic Literacy Project
Mr Portfield writes that there is a myth being promoted that “organic farming can somehow magically control insects and weeds without using chemicals of one kind or another, and that the ones that (they) do use are less toxic than targeted synthetic chemicals used by conventional farmers”.

The Australian Certified Organic website offers that organic means a whole systems approach, which is not just “chemical free”. It is a whole system or holistic means of growing and handling food, linking soil, plants, animals, food, people and the environment. It is friendlier because certified organic products are grown and processed without the use of synthetic chemicals, fertilizer, or GMO’s. https://aco.net.au/Pages/Operators/ACOStandards.aspx
The reader can formulate their own opinion but it is safe to say that there are pesticides used in the organic production system and that these pesticides are still assessed by the APVMA before being approved for use.