International Animal Health Products Pty Ltd and Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority

This matter concerned an application by International Animal Health Products Pty Ltd (the applicant) for the approval and registration of a product under section 14(1) of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code (Agvet Code). The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (the respondent) was the decision-maker. The dispute centred on the applicant's request for the release of certain documents held by the respondent, which the applicant contended were relevant to its application and that non-disclosure obligations did not apply to their release. The matter was heard by Senior Member Dr Linda Kirk.

The primary legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the documents sought by the applicant were relevant to the respondent's determination of the application under section 14(1) of the Agvet Code, and whether any non-disclosure obligations, particularly those concerning confidential commercial information under section 162 of the Agvet Code, would prevent the respondent from releasing these documents to the applicant. The Tribunal was required to interpret the scope of information the respondent may consider under section 8C of the Agvet Code and the disclosure requirements when issuing a notice of proposed decisions under section 8S.

The Tribunal reasoned that section 8S(2)(d) of the Agvet Code mandates that a notice of proposed decisions must include the information on which the reasons are based, including information not given by the applicant. This provision, read in conjunction with section 162 which permits disclosure for the purposes of legal proceedings, indicated that the respondent was obliged to disclose relevant information to the applicant. The Tribunal found that the documents in question were relevant to the applicant's application and that their disclosure was permissible under the Agvet Code for the purpose of the review proceedings, subject to the confidentiality protections outlined in section 162.

Accordingly, the Tribunal directed that the specified documents be made available by the respondent to the applicant's solicitors, counsel, and independent experts for use solely within the review proceedings, in accordance with the requirements of section 162 of the Agvet Code.