Ardern Shane: Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Ardern Shane: Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:642;Page:11947] 
SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki-King Country) 
: 
 I rise in support of the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill as well and I would like to pick up on a couple of issues. I know that the Primary Production Committee chaired by our very able colleague the Hon David Carter did a very fine job in giving close scrutiny to the detail of this bill but a couple of issues should be fleshed out a bit in the debate here in the Committee stage. 
One issue is around data protection which is covered in the commentary on the bill. I am led to believe that the substantive part of the debate on that issue was outside the scope of the bill. So I am flagging for the Minister that perhaps at some stage in the future some consideration may be given to the issue of data protection. The reason for this is that concern was raised in the Primary Production Committee about the period of time—the 5-year period of time—for which new medicines that are introduced into New Zealand have protection before that protection falls over. It was submitted that that length of time perhaps is not in keeping with international jurisdictions or international practice and therefore some compounds or other medicines that could be beneficial to our agriculture may not find their way to New Zealand. 
We should bear in mind that agriculture is the biggest industry in this country—a very important industry that is often dusted over lightly by Labour and by Parliament in general—and that animal remedies are a very significant part of that industry. The fact is that we may inadvertently have the unintended consequence that some helpful remedies may not be finding their way to this country due to the amount of investment in intellectual property and there is concern that if those remedies are brought to this country it will become public knowledge long before the investment in this high-level technology can be properly realised. I know that the Minister is going to take a call and she may want to mention that. 
The other issue that some submitters raised as a concern was the whole issue of compliance costs. I am pleased to see that the committee in its recommendation said that because of the one-stop shop process that is now in place the argument around cost of compliance really did not hold much water. I am pleased to hear that because whenever one sees regulation or legislative change around medicines particularly animal remedies there tends to be a belts and braces approach used by officials—and I acknowledge the officials’ presence in the Chamber—and they tend to take a very cautious approach and rightly so to whatever remedies are out there for farm animals. That can sometimes put on a whole layer of compliance that is unnecessary. 
I see that the Primary Production Committee recommended a change from “prescription” to “administer” which is a very good amendment by the committee. I understand the complexity of that issue and the arguments of some groups—and I will not mention them—that clearly have a vested interest in making sure that they are the only ones that can be involved in prescribing drugs or in guaranteeing that those drugs are allocated in the correct way. Of course that adds substantial costs in some cases to the whole process. So I am pleased that the select committee picked up on that point and I am pleased that its recommendation was that those changes take place. 
I also say that as we move forward in the technological age that we are in at the moment some of the very sophisticated technology that is being applied to animal remedies as is the case in the health sector is being done in an ongoing and very fluid set of circumstances. So I imagine that this is not the only amendment that we will ever see being made to this particular Act and I suspect that further amendments will be made in the not too distant future. At that point I would seek the Minister’s assurance that the issue of data protection and the length of the period of data protection will be addressed.