Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill
This bill updates the rules for approving farm and garden chemicals and animal medicines in New Zealand. It makes it easier and faster for new products to get approved by allowing the government to recognise assessments done by trusted overseas regulators, replacing some outdated approval steps, creating a new research consent system, and modernising how the public is told about decisions. It does not change what products are allowed — it changes the process for getting them approved.
What this affects
Tap a topic to see how this bill touches it, and the parts of the text that show it.
The bill requires the Director-General to tell the public when a product is being reviewed for safety, and gives clearer powers to suspend products that may pose a risk to public health.
The Director-General may suspend the registration of a registered trade name product... if the Director-General has reasonable grounds to believe that... the registered trade name product poses a risk to public health, trade in primary produce, animal welfare, or agricultural security.
The Director-General must publicly notify the prohibition or restriction (if any)
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Primary Production Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 14 June 2026.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.