Our history

1993

  • On June 15 the National Registration Authority (NRA) was established as an independent statutory authority to manage the Australian Government’s regulatory responsibilities under the National Registration Scheme.

1994

  • The Australian Government transfers responsibility for establishing maximum residue limits (MRLs) to the NRA.

1995

  • The Adverse Experience Reporting Program (AERP) for veterinary medicines begins.
  • The National Registration Scheme is implemented as the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Code Act 1994 (Agvet Code) comes into effect.

1996

  • The NRA quality system implemented with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) accreditation; the Agriculture and Veterinary Requirements series is published.

1998

  • Amendments are made to the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Administration) Act 1992, increasing membership of the NRA board to include a ‘government’ director.

1999

  • Amendments to the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Administration Act 1992 to provide protection for undisclosed data submitted for evaluation of new active constituents.

2003

  • The NRA changes its name to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA).
  • Amendments made to the Agvet Code for the introduction of a ‘low regulatory’ scheme and requirements for the APVMA to approve final printed labels.
  • The AERP for agricultural chemicals begins.

2007

  • The APVMA governance structure adopts an executive management model, headed by the CEO with Advisory Board to provide advice to the CEO.

2010

  • The APVMA implements new registration and label requirements to regulate spray drift risk.
  • New Amendments to the Agvet Code allow the APVMA to streamline a number of regulatory processes, including label approval.

2013

  • The APVMA celebrates its 20th anniversary.
  • The Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Legislation Amendment Act 2013 receives Royal Assent (Act No. 125 of 2013).

2015

  • Legislation comes into effect stating that a product name no longer has to be the same as the name on the product container label and multiple labels can be approved for one product.

2016

  • The Federal Court decides the APVMA is obligated to protect confidential commercial information (CCI) about a reference product when assessing product registration applications on a case-by-case basis.
  • The Australian Government seeks to decentralise public services, announcing the APVMA will relocate operations to Armidale in regional NSW.

2017

  • The Armidale business operating model, including an Armidale organisational structure is finalised.

2018

2019

  • The APVMA's relocation to Armidale is finalised and a satellite office is established in Canberra.

2021

2022

  • On 3 March 2022, the Governor-General signed the proclamation to establish the APVMA Board. As a result, from 4 March 2022, the Accountable Authority of the APVMA is the Board under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (PGPA) Act 2013.
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