Staff updates

The Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) team sadly farewelled Ilze Baiza (Adviser Agricultural Compounds) who departed from ACVM last month. Ilze made a significant impact in her short time with ACVM, and we wish her well on future endeavours.

The Agricultural Chemicals (Ag-Chem) & Vertebrate Toxic Agents (VTAs) assessment team welcomed Oliva Wiffen on a 6-month secondment from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Approvals team. Olivia has a degree in Animal Science and is knowledgeable in animal welfare, pest management and VTA toxicology studies. Olivia will be utilising her knowledge to support our work in relation to VTAs, particularly the proposed brodifacoum VTA reassessment.

Compliance update

ACVM compliance received 30 reports of potential or confirmed non-compliant ACVM products or activities in February 2025:

Inhibitor update

ACVM continues to engage with industry and registrants with active applications to ensure we are facilitating the development and access of these types of products. While no further registrations have been completed, last month has seen engagement with interested parties contemplating registration.

The update and amendment of the ACVM Act is still working its way through parliament with the second reading of the Regulatory Systems (Primary Industries) Amendment Bill expected in the next few months. 

The next Inhibitor Operational Forum (IOF) meeting is scheduled for 1-4 pm on 2 April 2025, with the agenda being confirmed in the next few weeks. IOF members should have already received a calendar invite.   

Currently, ACVM is reviewing the guidance material on efficacy. The review will also provide greater clarity to the use of qualitative data to support the label claims sought by registrants. This review reflects the continued emphasis to develop a regulatory framework that supports rapid development and deployment of tools for agriculture to reduce emissions.

AMR team update

2024 antibiotic sales return data due 8 March 2025
We would like to thank all the antibiotic product registrants who have already submitted their annual antibiotic sales return data to the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) team.

Submissions are due before 8 March 2025, so please submit your data if you havent already. Please ensure you present the correct information as data errors can result in significant rework and delays in issuing the final report.

If you have not received an email requesting your antibiotic use data or have any questions, please contact the AMR team on AMRteam@mpi.govt.nz.

ACVM Approvals Online update

In last month’s newsletter, we announced that Phase 1 of ACVM Approvals Online went live.

So far, we have received class determination applications for 249 products and have provided outcomes for 171 products. The remainder of the applications are currently being processed.

If you require a class determination, you can now apply through ACVM Approvals Online on the MPI website here: Class determinations and self-determinations under the ACVM Act 1997 | NZ Government

If you have trouble accessing ACVM Approvals Online or would like to provide feedback, please contact the Approvals team on approvals@mpi.govt.nz.

ACVM applications approved in February 2025

Agricultural chemicals application update

As of 28 February, there were:

• 32 applications in the queue
• 68 applications in appraisal

In the queue, there are:

• 14 new product applications (13 A-Type and 1 B-Type)
• 11 new use or use change applications
• 4 deviation applications
• 3 data assessment applications
• 1 deviation and data assessment (combined) application
• There are no chemistry and manufacturing variation applications in the queue.

Veterinary medicine application update

As of 28 February, there were:

• 47 applications in the queue
• 81 applications in appraisal
• 3 applications sitting with the Animal Imports Team for biosecurity approval

In the queue, there are:

• 19 new product applications (8 A-Type and 11 B-Type)
• 4 new use or use change applications
• 20 chemistry and manufacturing variations
• 1 deviation application
• 3 other applications requiring technical review

Submission of multi-product applications or bulk applications

To help maintain efficient processing of administrative (C9 and registration renewal) applications and team workload distribution, please advise the MPI Approvals team (mpi.approvals@mpi.govt.nz) of your intention to submit a multi-product application or a large number of applications for a range of products at least 20 days prior to application submission. This will help to ensure a timely processing of applications by the Approvals team.

ACVM Winter Workshop 2025

The next Winter Workshop will be held at Te Papa, Wellington on Thursday 12 June 2025. The workshop will follow the Animal and Plant Health (APHNZ) Annual Conference to be held on Wednesday 11 June, also at Te Papa, Wellington. The ACVM team has coordinated these events with APHNZ to reduce travel costs and logistical issues for industry attendees. Please email karen.booth@mpi.govt.nz with any suggested topics for the day. Agenda and registration details will be provided in the coming months.

ACVM 101 Workshop 2025

The ACVM team will be holding an ACVM 101 Workshop on Friday 13 June 2025, the day after the next Winter Workshop. The 101 Workshop is designed to provide newer registrants and industry stakeholders with background on ACVM and what we do, how to compile an application for submission, information requirements and expectations, the approval process and post-registration regulatory activities. This will be an in-person event held at Pastoral House, The Terrace in Wellington, with space limited to a maximum of 45 attendees. Agenda and workshop registration details will be provided in the coming months.

New restricted entry intervals set by WorkSafe NZ

Restricted entry intervals (REIs) are the length of time people are not allowed in an area where a pesticide has been applied unless they are wearing appropriate personal protective equipment. This protects workers and others from being exposed to harmful levels of pesticides through contact with skin and inhalation. They are determined by the type of crop, the maturity of the crop, and the amount of contact a person may have with the foliage after pesticide application. For this reason, REIs for the same pesticide can differ between crops.

WorkSafe NZ has set a number of new REIs for pesticides, and to give ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBUs) and suppliers time to adapt to the new REIs, these will come into force on 10 June 2025. More information can be found on the WorkSafe NZ website here: New restricted entry intervals for pesticides (REIs) | WorkSafe

If this is the only change you are making to your label, the updated label does not need to be notified to ACVM immediately but can instead be included with your next registration renewal or application. However, you can request to have your updated label uploaded to the ACVM web register if you wish. This is considered a notification and will incur a small administrative fee. 

Maximum residue levels update

The next round of amendments to the Food Notice: Maximum Residue Levels for Agricultural Compounds came into effect on 3 March. This round included amendments to the maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the agricultural chemicals diflufenican and pydiflumetofen, an amendment to the MRLs for the veterinary medicine tetracycline, and a new entry in Schedule 1 to set MRLs for the veterinary medicine hydrocortisone aceponate.

The next round of MRL proposals will be released for consultation within the next two weeks, with 14 proposed changes to Schedule 1. These will include new entires for the agricultural chemicals acetochlor and flupyradifurone, and amendments to the entries for acephate, decoquinate, fenamiphos, glyphosate, haloxyfop, maduramicin, methamidophos, monensin, narasin, oxathiapiprolin, salinomycin, and semduramicin. The consultation will be notified to ACVM subscribers when it goes live.  

Ministry for Regulation agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review

On 27 February 2025, the Ministry for Regulation published a final report on the agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review. You can see the full review on the Ministry for Regulation website here: Agricultural and horticultural products regulatory review | Ministry for Regulation.

The review has made 16 recommendations for enhancing the systems. MPI is broadly supportive of the recommendations, and we have work already underway or ready to begin on 8 of the 13 recommendations applicable to MPI relating to the ACVM Act. 

More information will be provided as MPI works through the recommendations outlined in the report.

Contact Us

ACVM Team, Assurance, New Zealand Food Safety / Haumaru Kai Aotearoa

Pastoral House, 25 The Terrace, PO Box 2526, Wellington 6140, New Zealand

Email approvals@mpi.govt.nz  

Website Agricultural compounds and veterinary medicines (ACVM) | Agriculture | NZ Government (mpi.govt.nz)