Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997

The purpose of this Act is to prevent or manage the risks from use of agrichemicals to:

• Trade in primary produce
• Animal welfare Agricultural security.

It also seeks to ensure that:

• agrichemical use does not result in domestic food residue standards being breached
• consumers have adequate information about agrichemicals.

The registration process required for each and every agrichemical means that conditions may be placed on an agrichemical to manage or reduce the risks specified in the Act. These conditions must be printed on the label. Conditions may include:

• withholding periods
• crop rotation
• Maximum Residue Limits (MRL).

If you use the product outside of its label conditions, you are liable and responsible for any consequences. So, follow the label:

• do NOT change application or dose rates do NOT use on plants/animals that are not listed on the label (unless professional advice has been sought). Do not use a product that has not been registered for use in New Zealand. Registered products will have an ACVM registration number on the label.

The full version of this Act is available online.