Australian Agricultural Chemical Regulation

In Australia, agricultural chemicals fall under the National Registration Scheme (NRS), which the Commonwealth and the states and territories share. The APVMA regulates under the Agvet Code "up to – and including – the point of retail sale." After a product is sold to the end user, its use is a matter for state and territory "control of use" laws (APVMA, Agvet chemical regulation; APVMA, Use of agvet chemicals). Residue limits in food and poisons scheduling are set under separate instruments, run by FSANZ and the TGA.

Approach: I read the current Agvet Code (Act compilation 34, 14 Oct 2024) and Regulations (compilation 49, 1 Oct 2025), plus the APVMA Gazette, the APVMA MRL Standard, FSANZ Schedule 20, the APVMA ADI and FAISD lists, and official APVMA and TGA pages. I did not open the individual state and territory control-of-use Acts.

1. Commonwealth: the Agvet Code (APVMA)

Scope. The Code covers two things: approving active constituents and controlling their supply, and registering agricultural and veterinary chemical products and controlling their manufacture and supply ^[1]. A product counts as an "agricultural chemical product" if it is represented or used to:

• destroy, repel or prevent pests in relation to a plant, place or thing;
• destroy a plant;
• modify plant or pest physiology;
• modify the effect of another agricultural product; or
• attract pests in order to destroy them.

Veterinary chemical products are excluded from this definition ^[2].

Three approvals needed to market a product:

• The active constituent must be approved.
• The product must be registered.
• The label must be approved.

The APVMA "must not" register a product unless it also approves each active constituent and a label. Exempted actives and listed products are the exceptions ^[3].

Statutory tests (s14). The APVMA "must" approve or register if it is satisfied of the following, and otherwise it "must refuse" ^[4]:

• Active constituent: meets the safety criteria.
• Product: meets the safety, trade and efficacy criteria, or complies with an established standard.
• Label: meets the labelling criteria, or complies with the established standard.

What each set of criteria covers:

Criteria	Main points
Safety (s5A)	No undue hazard to handlers or to people exposed to residues; no harmful effect on humans; no unintended harm to animals, plants or the environment. The APVMA must consider toxicity, impurities, formulation and the poison classification, and may consider ADIs and FSANZ dietary exposure assessments [5]
Efficacy (s5B)	Product is effective according to criteria the APVMA determines by legislative instrument [6]
Trade (s5C)	Use does not "unduly prejudice trade or commerce between Australia and places outside Australia" [7]
Labelling (s5D)	Adequate instructions on use, timing, frequency, withholding period, re-entry period, disposal of product and containers, safe handling and first aid [8]

Duration of approvals. An active constituent approval "continues in force unless it is cancelled." A product registration ends on the date entered in the Register, unless a renewal application is still pending ^[9].

Publication. Approvals and registrations must be published in the Gazette ^[10]. The APVMA publishes this as its own Gazette: Agricultural and veterinary chemicals; for example, No. APVMA 1 is dated 13 January 2026 ^[11]. Product and permit details are held in the PubCRIS and permits databases (APVMA).

Permits. Permits authorise conduct that registration does not cover. The APVMA "must issue" a permit if, among other things:

• the active or product would meet the relevant criteria; and
• there are reasonable grounds why no approval or registration application has been made, or for issuing the permit while one is pending.

Applicants with relevant convictions or penalties in the past 10 years are refused ^[12].

Data protection (s34M). Data relied on to approve the item cannot be used for others during these periods ^[13]:

• 10 years: a new active constituent, or a product or label containing an active that was not previously endorsed.
• 5 years: other agricultural product or label registrations, and agricultural variations.

Supply offences. Each of the following is both an offence and a civil penalty provision:

Section	Prohibited conduct	Penalty
s76	Supplying an unapproved active constituent	300 penalty units [14]
s78	Supplying an unregistered product without a permit or exemption	300 penalty units [15]
s79	Supplying a product in breach of its registration conditions	300 penalty units [16]
s80	Supplying a product in a container without a label	300 penalty units [17]
s74 / s75	Possessing an unapproved active, or an unregistered product, with intent to supply	200 penalty units [18][19]

Manufacturing. Carrying out a step in the manufacture of chemical products without a licence, permit or exempt status is a strict-liability offence (240 penalty units) ^[20]. The APVMA describes its licensing scheme as covering manufacturers of veterinary chemical products (APVMA).

After approval: chemical review and recall.

• The APVMA "may at any time" reconsider an approval, registration or label, and must first prepare a work plan ^[21]. It must affirm the approval only if the criteria are still met ^[22].
• It can issue recall notices if a product may not meet the safety, trade or efficacy criteria, or if batches depart from their registered composition ^[23].

2. States and territories: control of use

The APVMA "does not monitor or enforce the correct use" of agvet chemicals. The label directions "must be followed," and some are "legally binding." Misuse is enforced by state and territory authorities, police and Safe Work Australia (APVMA). The responsible agencies the APVMA lists are:

Jurisdiction	Agency
ACT	Access Canberra
NSW	NSW EPA; NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
NT	Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Queensland	Department of Primary Industries
South Australia	Department of Primary Industries and Regions
Tasmania	Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania
Victoria	Agriculture Victoria
Western Australia	Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development; WA Health

Each state's own Act sets the detailed rules, such as off-label use, applicator licensing and record-keeping. I did not open those Acts.

3. Residues, health values and label safety directions

• Two sets of MRLs. The APVMA MRL Standard sets limits for food and animal feed (for example, glyphosate in sunflower meal at 5 mg/kg; compilation 16, effective 20 Oct 2026) ^[24]. Food sold in Australia must meet FSANZ Food Standards Code Schedule 20 (for example, glyphosate in wheat at 5; compilation 93, effective 6 Oct 2026) ^[25].
• Link between the two. The APVMA notifies FSANZ when an application is likely to need an MRL variation ^[26].
• Health-based guidance values. The APVMA publishes ADI and ARfD lists. For example, glyphosate has an ADI of 0.3, based on a NOAEL of 30 mg/kg bw/d (edition 3/2026) ^[27].
• First aid and safety directions. Label first-aid and safety directions come from the APVMA FAISD Handbook (edition 3/2026) ^[28].

4. Poisons scheduling

The Poisons Standard (SUSMP) classifies substances into Schedules "for inclusion in the relevant legislation of the States and Territories." The current edition is the Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard - October 2026) Instrument 2026 (TGA). The APVMA must take a product's poison classification into account under the safety criteria (s5A).

If useful, I can go deeper on a single state's control-of-use law or on one active constituent's registration, MRL and review status.

Sources:

• APVMA: Agvet chemical regulation
• APVMA: Use of agvet chemicals in Australia
• TGA: The Poisons Standard (the SUSMP)