The regulatory framework for managing agricultural and veterinary (agvet) chemical products in Australia is the National Registration Scheme for Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals.
Under the scheme, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) is responsible for the assessment and approval or registration of active constituents and agvet chemical products and for their regulation up to and including the point of retail sale in Australia.
Before an agvet chemical product can be legally supplied, sold or used in Australia it must be registered by the APVMA.
For farmers, food producers, the chemical industry and the general public, registration means that the product can be supplied, sold and used safely according to the label directions.
Every year, hundreds of new agvet chemical products are developed for the Australian marketplace. Many will need to be registered by the APVMA.
The laws that underpin agvet product registration are complex. It is important that anyone wanting to develop or market a new product has a good understanding of the rules that determine whether or not the product needs to be registered.
There are severe penalties for anyone selling an unregistered agvet product in the Australian marketplace if it is required by law to be registered.