Carter David: Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Carter David: Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:642;Page:12157] 
Hon DAVID CARTER (National) 
: 
 Despite that vicious criticism from the Minister National will continue to vote for the third reading of the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill. I think what became evident through the various stages of this debate in Parliament with all parties voting unanimously to support this legislation as the Minister noted was an acceptance by all the parliamentary parties of the importance of agriculture and horticulture to the New Zealand economy. Therefore it is essential that we have legislation that is of assistance rather than a hindrance. I think in the contributions made by all members through the various debates we have had in recent weeks on the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill that the relevance of the importance of agriculture has become clear. I look forward to the bill’s passing later on this afternoon. 
It is worthwhile recalling the history of the legislation prior to this amendment bill. The original agricultural compounds and veterinary medicines legislation was passed in 1997 and at that stage that legislation was quite far-reaching and forward-thinking. We took a whole lot of small specific pieces of legislation and attempted to mould them into one overarching piece of legislation which has lasted very very well and served the industry well over the last 10 years. But it has been noticed over recent times that the process the so-called one-stop shop by which the dangers are of any potential product is recognised—the process by which the various importers and retailers of these products get the chance to extol the virtues as compared with any proposed risks—could have been simplified greatly and that is the essence of the amendment bill we have before Parliament today. 
The Government clearly has a very large responsibility to ensure that all the products used in New Zealand primary production—and there are many thousands of them—are safe. That is something that must be accepted certainly by New Zealand’s agricultural and horticultural communities—and it is—and it must also be recognised by all the countries to which we extensively market our products. But having talked about safety I say it is also absolutely essential that we have a very wise balance against any processes that an importer must go through because those processes tend to add greatly to the compliance costs under which those industries that service agriculture and horticulture operate. 
As the Minister alluded to in her contribution the work of the Primary Production Committee on the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill was very extensive. As I said in some earlier contributions to the debate in the Committee of the whole House I thought that the amount of work done by the select committee was probably more extensive than it needed to be but having said that I can also say we were greatly assisted by the quality of submissions that came before it. Almost inevitably they started with the same opening paragraph which said they were “generally supportive of the thrust of the legislation but …”. They then went on not only to list the essence of their discomfort around the amendment bill—and more important I can say this of all the submissions that came before the select committee—but also to give us in a very concise and concrete fashion some very sensible suggestions on how to then modify the legislation. I think that on the whole we have accepted the tone of those submissions and we have accepted the huge amount of work done by the industry in giving us the solutions and they have been largely incorporated into the legislation that is now before the House this afternoon. 
The passing of the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill today will in a small way make farming in New Zealand a little easier. I think that this will be welcome relief to an industry that over the last 8 years has seen a sea of legislation that has been hugely difficult for the farming industry to cope with. We have only just seen legislation passed 5 or 10 minutes ago around water health standards—legislation that will make it extremely difficult for our rural communities. That was pointed out to the Government throughout the select committee process but the Government chose to ignore it. So it is a welcome relief finally to see legislation before the House that is of assistance to our industry and that is a sharp contrast to the obstructive experience that the farmers of New Zealand have had to cope with over the last 8 years. 
I support the legislation and I thank the Labour Government for finally doing something small—it is small—for our primary industries because they certainly need that sort of assistance. So in the dying days of the Labour Government at least it has one small piece of constructive legislation available and it will be over to the next National Government in October 2008 to make sure that this is just the first very small step in the right direction for agricultural producers.