When the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) refers to veterinary products (also known as veterinary medicines), we mean those items that are defined by the legislative framework as ‘veterinary chemical products’.
Some veterinary products can be clearly and unambiguously identified as needing to be registered (for example, they may have an obvious therapeutic effect or defined clinical use). Likewise, for some veterinary products registration is clearly not required. For example, non-medicated toothpastes that are purely cosmetic in nature (and do not make therapeutic claims) do not need to be registered.
For other products, however, the situation is not so clear-cut. A number of factors may need to be considered to determine whether a particular veterinary product needs to be registered before it can be legally sold in the Australian marketplace.
To help you work out if your product needs registration, we have developed some resources to guide you through the regulatory requirements.
If the self-assessment tool shows that your veterinary product needs to be registered, you will need to apply for registration. If it shows that your veterinary product does not require registration, keep a copy of the self-assessment tool results for your files for future reference. If you are still not sure about your product, you can apply to us for a technical assessment. A fee will apply for this service.