Welcome.
We hope you will read this website and join with us in protecting the rights of all Australians to care for their animals with natural products. The health and welfare of your animals needs protecting.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) is demanding that natural products, as simple as herbs, must be registered as 'veterinary chemical products'. Their actions will limit the availability of natural products that you provide for your animals.
The products that the APVMA claim are veterinary medicines are natural and herbal e.g. a Garlic and herb based equine supplement. The products are not registered or restricted for human use in Australia yet the APVMA claim that they must be registered for animal use, or be removed from sale. Does this seem unreal to you? It is not and the actions of the APVMA against the retailer www.animalhealthstore.com.au are detailed on the 'History' page. All communication to date are also included to evidence the APVMA's position and the threats they are prepared to make. We know of other product manufacturers that have also received threats from the APVMA regarding the supply of natural products.
Why is the APVMA taking such action against natural products for animals? We do not know. There has been no allegations of risk to animals from natural products and there has been no specific allegations of false claims regarding natural products. May we suggest that the answer lies somewhere in the nature of the APVMA. It is an autonomous Federal Government authority, self-funded by veterinary medicine pharmaceutical companies and chemical pesticide companies, paying for their chemical products to be registered.
Why not register natural products?
We do not believe that registration of natural products is necessary. We are lead to believe that the testing and approval process undertaken by the APVMA can cost the manufacturer up to $250,000 in application fees, as well as incur an ongoing trailer fee of 0.8% of all registered products sold. Not only will this cost be prohibitive for some small manufacturers, but also, there is no way for the manufacturer to protect their natural product under patent laws from competitor activity. If the registration of natural products is enforced, then the cost of that registration will be passed on to you the end user.
What action can you take
- A Ministerial review of the APVMA is presently being undertaken. We made a submission before the closing date of 25/1/11. Details of this review are on the Ministerial Review page however you should note that this has arisen out of the APVMA's tardiness towards management of chemical pesticides and as yet there has been no focus on their actions against natural supplements for animals. Unfortunately it is now too late to make a submission but you can see other submissions. See the details on our Ministerial review Page.
- Join with our petition to the Minister. At the very least, if you use natural products on your animals, then we urge you to consider signing our petition. Without your support, our efforts in protecting our right to treat our animals natural will be in serious jeopardy. See our petition on our 'Petition' page. We provided details of the petition to the Minister AFF before the date that the consultation on the present Ministerial Review ended. We would like to continue to obtain further signatures on the petition to show the Government, the support we have for this issue.
- If you have had similar experiences then please write to the Minisiter responsible for the APVMA, The Hon Joe Ludwig. His contact details are available at www.aph.gov.au/senate/senators/homepages/senators.asp?id=84N
- Contact the Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (contact details ) and your local federal member to discuss your concerns about the actions of the APVMA
- Let all your colleagues and friends know about this site
Please act now to take advantage of the opportunity to contribute to the current review process.
