APPARENT independently analyses all new products at an internationally-recognised independent laboratory in Shanghai.  The same facilities are also used to analyse product samples taken at random once orders are placed.  We also insist that each product we procure contains Huntsman wetters, surfactants and dispersants.  We inspect each plant from whom we procure products and take into account its financial strength, environmental protection and occupational safety regimes as well as production facilities before adding the company to our list of accredited suppliers.

APPARENT also imports Active Constituents (AC) from agricultural chemical plants in China for local formulation in Australia.  We are currently formulating at four plants: two in Victoria, one in Western Australia and one in New Zealand.  Approximately one-third of our product by volume is now formulated in Australia. 

APPARENT is committed to delivering the highest quality product to Australian farmers at the lowest price.  We have achieved this objective in three years of operation.  We do not buy from traders because this action adds cost and not value, and the source of the product is often unknown.  Because we buy from a contestable market of prequalified plants, we obtain lower prices than those typically paid by traders who often deal with a single plant.  We add a low, fixed margin to the ex-plant price which is recovered after the product has been imported.  Unlike most of our competitors, our margin is not inflated by shipping costs, insurance, freight, credit terms and import duty.  Our margin does not increase with the price of the product.

While most of our generic products have been in the market for many years, we are not standing still.  We constantly seek new methods of formulation to reduce prices for Australian farmers.  We also continually research all new molecules and discuss these with the plants that produce the same in China with a view to introducing them to the Australian market once patents expire.  We know that we can deliver the newer products to Australian farmers at a fraction of their current cost.  We are prepared to obtain AC clearance with APVMA for these molecules and then register appropriate labels for the Australian market.