The Royal Commission on Genetic Modification recommended that the HSNO Act and the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Act 1997 be amended to give appropriate protection to all commercially sensitive or confidential supporting information provided with applications for approval.
6.1 Summary
As a result, the Government has directed officials to undertake consultation with key stakeholders to determine the level of protection that is appropriate for commercially sensitive or confidential supporting information provided with applications for approval, with a view to amending the HSNO and ACVM Acts.
Two main areas are addressed: the notification requirements in the HSNO and ACVM Acts relating to requests to release confidential information under the Official Information Act 1981 (OIA), and the special protection against release provided in accordance with the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).
The HSNO and ACVM Acts require that suppliers of confidential information be notified when a request is received for that information under the OIA. If no response is received from that person, the Act allows for the information to be released without further reference to that person. Four options are presented for amending the notification provisions.
It is proposed that the special protection afforded in accordance with the TRIPs agreement be extended to confidential information supplied with all hazardous substances and new organisms that are the subject of innovative agricultural compound or medicine applications. We are seeking comment on the further extension of such protection to other innovative hazardous substance and new organism applications, and what the criteria for those applications might be. Additional comment is sought on related matters such as the cross-referencing of data and the length of the period of protection.
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6. Confidential information
September 2002
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