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Hunt secures new TGA pathway in last-minute deal
Posted 6 February 2018
A move by The Greens to amend and possibly delay new legislation which includes a provisional TGA approval pathway was foiled yesterday when Health Minister Greg Hunt secured Labor's support in a last-minute backroom deal.
Hunt offered an additional five non-mandated consumer protections, including the formation of a new Therapeutic Goods Advertising Committee, in a late effort yesterday to ensure Labor would not oppose the legislation and delay its passage through the Senate.
Staff from the minister's office met with Labor staffers early yesterday to secure their bipartisan support for the legislation - a move which has ensured the new provisional pathway for medicines is back on track for later this year.
Hunt said he was "aware that if mandatory pre-approvals were maintained there is little incentive for companies to become familiar with the requirements for producing compliant advertisements".
He therefore offered a pre-screening service for advertisements, to be operated by ASMI, the TGA or both, whereby sponsors could check their ads for compliance. However, negotiations with Labor on Monday morning resulted in the government conceding and agreeing to keep the current pre-vetting scheme in place for two years.
The Hunt compromise package also offered a comprehensive industry and consumer education program regarding the new advertising regulatory scheme and public performance measures to ensure the TGA was adequately resourced to manage any complaints about advertisements of therapeutic goods.
The new Therapeutic Goods Advertising Committee would cover "modern advertising platforms including internet and social media" as well as traditional media but would "not have a decision making role around individual advertising complaints", suggesting it would play an advisory role only in the process.
Finally, Hunt put on the table an offer to review the impact of the new advertising measures by mid-2020 to determine if consumers were adequately protected.
While the measures were sufficient to secure Labor's support, The Greens Senator Richard Di Natale still moved to amend the legislation to introduce stricter rules around what can and cannot be said about complementary products.
Di Natale voiced strong support for the "fast-tracking process and other changes to therapeutic goods registration, there are other changes in this bill that we think have the potential to undermine consumer protections".
While Hunt's last-minute measures secured Labor's support in the Senate, dissenters yesterday accused Labor of "caving in" and accepting government compromises.
Academics and other consumer organisations that have campaigned strongly for relaxation of advertising and therapeutic claims for complementary products yesterday vowed to "stress and evaluate the new advertising system by submitting numerous complaints".
Megan Brodie
Posted 6 February 2018
A move by The Greens to amend and possibly delay new legislation which includes a provisional TGA approval pathway was foiled yesterday when Health Minister Greg Hunt secured Labor's support in a last-minute backroom deal.
Hunt offered an additional five non-mandated consumer protections, including the formation of a new Therapeutic Goods Advertising Committee, in a late effort yesterday to ensure Labor would not oppose the legislation and delay its passage through the Senate.
Staff from the minister's office met with Labor staffers early yesterday to secure their bipartisan support for the legislation - a move which has ensured the new provisional pathway for medicines is back on track for later this year.
Hunt said he was "aware that if mandatory pre-approvals were maintained there is little incentive for companies to become familiar with the requirements for producing compliant advertisements".
He therefore offered a pre-screening service for advertisements, to be operated by ASMI, the TGA or both, whereby sponsors could check their ads for compliance. However, negotiations with Labor on Monday morning resulted in the government conceding and agreeing to keep the current pre-vetting scheme in place for two years.
The Hunt compromise package also offered a comprehensive industry and consumer education program regarding the new advertising regulatory scheme and public performance measures to ensure the TGA was adequately resourced to manage any complaints about advertisements of therapeutic goods.
The new Therapeutic Goods Advertising Committee would cover "modern advertising platforms including internet and social media" as well as traditional media but would "not have a decision making role around individual advertising complaints", suggesting it would play an advisory role only in the process.
Finally, Hunt put on the table an offer to review the impact of the new advertising measures by mid-2020 to determine if consumers were adequately protected.
While the measures were sufficient to secure Labor's support, The Greens Senator Richard Di Natale still moved to amend the legislation to introduce stricter rules around what can and cannot be said about complementary products.
Di Natale voiced strong support for the "fast-tracking process and other changes to therapeutic goods registration, there are other changes in this bill that we think have the potential to undermine consumer protections".
While Hunt's last-minute measures secured Labor's support in the Senate, dissenters yesterday accused Labor of "caving in" and accepting government compromises.
Academics and other consumer organisations that have campaigned strongly for relaxation of advertising and therapeutic claims for complementary products yesterday vowed to "stress and evaluate the new advertising system by submitting numerous complaints".
Megan Brodie
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