Before an agricultural or veterinary (agvet) chemical product can be legally imported, supplied, sold, promoted or advertised in Australia, it must be registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) (subject to certain exceptions). Part of our role is to monitor and enforce compliance in the marketplace with the regulatory requirements relating to agvet chemical products and to help manufacturers, importers and suppliers of agvet chemicals to be aware of and have an understanding of these regulatory requirements.
We work closely with state and territory governments to ensure there is effective coordination and communication of monitoring and compliance efforts. We also work with the Australian Border Force to intercept illegal imports of agvet chemicals.
Suppliers
An agvet active constituent must be approved, or exempted from approval, by the APVMA before it can be supplied to the market.
An agvet chemical product must also be registered by the APVMA before it can be supplied to the market (subject to certain exceptions). A product is considered an agricultural chemical product or a veterinary chemical product if it meets the definition of an agricultural chemical product or a veterinary chemical product. Many ‘natural’, ‘organic’ and ‘chemical-free’ products fit these definitions and are therefore regulated by the APVMA. Learn more about supplying and selling natural agvet products in Australia.
An agvet chemical product must also have an approved label attached to it before it can be supplied to the market. The APVMA maintains a public database (PubCRIS) where you can check whether an agvet chemical product is registered or an active constituent is approved. To find out if the product you are supplying requires registration before it is supplied, check the guideline Does my product require registration?
If you supply an unapproved active constituent or a product that is not registered (where active constituent approval or product registration is required), or a product that has an unapproved label attached and is not subject to an approved permit, you may have committed an offence under the Agvet Code.
The APVMA operates an Adverse Experience Reporting Program, which is a quality assurance program established to facilitate the responsible management of agvet chemicals throughout their life cycle. If in supplying an agvet chemical you become aware of any adverse experiences, you should report them to the APVMA.