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National Residue Survey Administration Act 1992

Under Section 10 of the National Residue Survey Administration Act 1992 (the NRS Act), the minister is required to provide an annual report to Parliament, setting out details of the operation of the NRS Special Account. This section provides the report for the period from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, including key financial information.

Operation

The National Residue Survey (NRS) monitors residues of pesticides, veterinary medicines and environmental contaminants in Australian food commodities. This monitoring is fully industry-funded, principally through levies on the commodities that are tested.

The NRS tests animal commodities including cattle, sheep, pigs, camels, deer, goats, horses, kangaroos, poultry (for example, chickens, ducks and turkeys), ratites (emus and ostriches), wild boars, honey, eggs and aquatic species (both aquaculture and wild-caught seafood).

In horticulture, the almond, apple, macadamia and pear industries participated in NRS testing in 2019–20.

The NRS grains program covers:

  • cereals (wheat, barley, oat, maize, sorghum and triticale)
  • pulses (chickpea, cow pea, pigeon pea, field pea, faba bean, lentil, vetch, navy bean, mung bean and lupin)
  • oilseeds (canola, sunflower, soybean, safflower and linseed).
Table 42 National Residue Survey – summary of results for all random monitoring programs, 2019–20

Commodity

Total number of samples

Compliance with relevant Australian standards (%) a

Animal products (42 different products sampled)

Meat, eggs, honey and aquatic species

10,476

99.72

Plant products (25 different products sampled)

Grains and horticulture

4,842

99.26

a Compliance rate based on numbers of samples in compliance. In a very small number of samples, one sample may contain more than one violative residue.

Financial information

Table 43 National Residue Survey – revenue and expenses, 2018–19 and 2019–20

Item

2019–20

$'000

2018–19

$'000

Revenue

Sale of goods and rendering of services

675

770

Interest on investments

347

433

Levies

11,544

10,471

Revenue from government

12

5

Total revenue

12,578

11,679

Expenses

Employee benefits

2,051

1,839

Analytical testing

7,575

6,879

Other

2,306

2,285

Total expenses

11,932

11,003

Surplus/(deficit)

646

676

Table 44 National Residue Survey – assets, liabilities and equity, 2018–19 and 2019–20

Item

2019–20

$'000

2018–19

$'000

Assets

Cash and cash equivalents

2,146

1,079

Trade and other receivables

42

15

Investments

16,000

17,500

Intangibles

480

622

Accrued revenue

1,819

678

Other assets

26

31

Total assets

20,513

19,925

Liabilities

Employee provisions

593

768

Other provisions

0

6

Suppliers and other payables

524

399

Operating lease payables

0

238

Total liabilities

1,117

1,411

Equity

Reserves

18,633

17,988

Other

763

526

Total equity

19,396

18,514

Table 45 Transactions in and out of the National Residue Survey Account, 2018–19 and 2019–20

Item

2019–20

$'000

2018–19

$'000

Balance brought forward from previous period

1,079

1,113

Receipts

Appropriation for reporting period

12

5

Other receipts

28,897

28,470

Total receipts

28,909

28,475

Payments

Payments made to employees

(2,261)

(1,771)

Payments made to other

(25,581)

(26,738)

Total payments

(27,842)

(28,509)

Total balance carried to the next period

2,146

1,079