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Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment Annual Report 2019-20

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

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