The problem is that the Aust Govt decided that the registration process should be self funding ie. companies wanting registration should pay for the privilege. So a new active ingredient and product costs around 50K in fees to the govt. But the cost of funding such a program exceeds the funds that companies (industry) is really prepared to put in.
The real issue is that the APVMA performs functions which should be deemed in the common good of Australia and therefore funded by the Govt but the system forces these costs on industry.
The consequence is that the APVMA has limited funding and is therefore struggling to employ competent people.
Hence the delays.
WHile 50K does not seem a lot, you need to consider that the cost of a complete package (globally) for a new active ingredient (to discover, develop and prove its safety)is now over US$100M before you even get to this stage. Equivalent fees in the US are about US250K so just multiply this (give or take ) by the number countries in which the product needs to be registered and you can see there is a large cost over and above discovery/development.
Anyway, for Termilone, it will just have to get in the queue. Just because it is a "natural" product will not fast-track it.
Cheers
What the Australian pesticide industry is saying is they are happy to pay fee for service but they should not have to pay for work related to public good. In reality this latter soaks up about half of the fees paid by industry.
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