The national body which approved the use of the rabbit calicivirus disease has agreed to release all documents relating to its decision after action by a WA group questioning the use of RCD.

The National Registration Authority for Agriculture and Veterinary Chemicals (NRA) will file its documents with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal by March 25, the authority’s executive manager for registration, Peter Raphael, said in Canberra yesterday.

He said the tribunal decided on Tuesday that the Defence Coalition Against RCD had the standing to apply for a review of the decision to release the virus.

Defence Coalition Against RCD spokesman Don Fuller said his group’s successful action came after months of concern over what he claimed was a failure of authorities to control the spread of RCD and properly inform the public about its risks.

"Everything the NRA relied on to make the decision has to be sent to the tribunal," Mr Fuller said. A separate Federal Court Action in WA sought to set aside the declaration of the virus as a biological agent.

After strong lobbying by farmer and land management groups, the Federal Government approved the release of RCD nationally last September after the authority registered it as a biological agent and approved a CSIRO application to register the virus as a safe chemical product.

Agriculture WA released RCD in WA on October 18 when it was injected into 21 rabbits at Cranbrook, 323 km south-east of Perth - a week after Australia’s first official release of diseased rabbits at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.