Public Consultations

Public Consultation on the Proposed controls for the manufacture, sale, storage, and use of products containing brodifacoum opened on Monday 30 October 2023. This consultation was set to close at 5pm on 11 December, however the consultation period has since been extended and now closes at 5pm on 26 January 2024.

The following Public Consultations which are currently open have had their consultation periods extended:

Consultation for the ACVM Requirement: Registration Information Requirements for Agricultural Chemicals and the Guidance Document: Agricultural Chemical Registration now closes on 8 December 2023.

Consultation for the Guidance Document: Chemistry and Manufacturing Information for Agricultural Chemicals now closes on 5 January 2024.

Please email submissions to ACVM.Consultation@mpi.govt.nz

Agricultural Chemical Label Statements – Primary Animal Feed withholding periods

A variety of different crop withholding periods (WHP) and slaughter interval/clean feed period statements have been used for agricultural chemicals which include use on a primary animal feed.

The lack of clarity and consistency in wording and location on the label means that some WHP or slaughter interval/clean feed statements may be unclear to the user or may not cover all resulting feed situations. For example, a WHP for pasture may refer to the length of time between application and grazing, but the WHP for cutting hay/silage may be implied rather than specifically stated.

To help with consistency, when the ACVM Guidance: Labelling Agricultural Chemicals was updated in March 2023, section 5.6 was expanded and now includes a number of example label statements. For existing products, we would like to remind you to consider your animal feed WHP statements carefully using the guidance and the example label statements as a guide, and if required, address this in your next application or renewal.

Compliance update

The updated ACVM non-compliance and recall webpages have now been published – ACVM non-compliance and recalls. The updated ACVM non-compliance and recalls ACVM non-compliance and recall webpages have now been published – recently been updated. ACVM non-compliance and recalls.

Changes include:

• New ACVM recall form, templates, and guidance for conducting recalls. For petfood manufactured in New Zealand under the Animal Products Act, continue to follow your current recall processes and reporting requirements in accordance with your RMPs and/or any other requirements under the Animal Products Act.
• A new ACVM recalls page where we will publish recalls (voluntary and directed) to consumer level when consumers need to be informed (for example when the product has been widely distributed and/or the consumer cannot be contacted directly).
• A new ACVM Recalls subscription topic.  You can subscribe here to receive ACVM recall notifications.
• Updated forms and guidelines to report your own non-compliant registered or exempt/unregistered ACVM products or batches to incorporate the new recall documents.
• The form to report a suspected non-complaint ACVM product or activity has been simplified into an online form. Please find the online form here and here.

Inhibitors update

ACVM hasn’t received any inhibitor registration applications for appraisal but has approved 40 applications for research trials. The ACVM team has continued to upskill staff on inhibitor technology. In October, staff visited a research and development site for a methane inhibitor, N₂O research site at Massey University. Additionally, the Senior Advisor Inhibitors attended the Grasslands Research Conference, wherein much of the focus was on agricultural inhibitors. While the amendment to the ACVM Act was introduced into the house in June 2023, it has still not undergone first reading; it is unknown when this will occur.

The last tri-annual Inhibitor Operational Forum for 2023 was held on 29 November. There were high level discussions on regulatory requirements for registering an inhibitor product. This forum is attended by researchers and product developers, in addition to representatives from the EPA, Codex and the Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Application processing times 

Key points for October 2023:

Applications Approved in October 2023

Progress on veterinary medicine queue

Due to a pre-Christmas influx of applications at the start of November, the veterinary medicines queue increased slightly, peaking at 125. The team have made good headway into this, seeing the downwards trend return, with the queue sitting at 114 as of 23 November.

The majority of the queue continues to be Chemistry & Manufacturing changes (C1 – C3 variations), with these variations accounting for 82% of the overall queue. The graph below shows a breakdown of the veterinary medicines queue, by application type, by the month the applications were due to complete technical assessment (for example day 25 of the 40 working day timeframe). The peak of applications due in September and October reflects a large influx earlier in the year, with the December peak reflecting the pre-Christmas spike in submissions.

New staff at New Zealand Food Safety

Kerstin Thornton - Adviser, Approvals Operations

Kia ora, I joined the Approval Operations team in September as an Adviser and have been familiarising myself with the ACVM Act.

I started at MPI earlier this year as an Adviser in the Country Listings team after finishing at Victoria University of Wellington with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science and a Postgraduate Diploma in Biomedical Science. During my studies I gained commercial and research laboratory experience.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with friends and family, reading, knitting, and being in nature.

I am excited to be continuing my MPI journey in the Approvals team and broadening my knowledge and experience

ACVM News and Views survey

As we near the end of 2023, we’ve included a short survey asking about your experience with receiving the ACVM News and Views Newsletter. We would love to hear your thoughts so we can ensure we are sending you the content you want to see.

Please complete this short survey here.

Christmas/New Year period

For the Christmas/New Year period, most Ministry for Primary Industries’ sites will be closed from 12:00pm on 22 December 2023, and will open again on 3 January 2024. Please note there will be minimal staff attendance on 22 December 2023 and from 3 to 5 January 2024.

MPI will endeavour to process ACVM applications prior to Christmas. Applications must be submitted by 12 noon 1 December 2023 in order to be considered for the last pre-screen of 2023. For any applications submitted after this date you may not be notified of the pre-screen outcome until the week of 16 January 2024. Should the need arise for us to request further information, your application is unlikely to be approved prior to 16 January 2024. For all other types of applications received after Friday 1 December 2023, these may not be processed until the New Year.

Contact Us

ACVM Team, Assurance, New Zealand Food Safety / Haumaru 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)