Hon Andrew Hoggard
Minister for Food Safety

14 May 2026

The Government is making sweeping changes so farmers, growers, and vets can maximise economic growth and productivity by getting access to new agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines safely and swiftly, says Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard.

“The changes proposed in the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Amendment Bill, introduced on 11 May, reduce barriers to innovative new products while making sure any associated risks are dealt with proportionately,” says Mr Hoggard.

“The amendments remove avoidable complexity and focus regulators on real risks and speeding up the process for considering novel products.

“One way the Bill will achieve this is by enabling greater reliance on the assessments of trusted overseas regulators when evaluating risks and benefits. I consider there is no good reason our primary sector should be waiting on work that has already been done by other reputable agencies outside of New Zealand.

“The changes will also focus regulators on what matters so that products that are known to pose a lower risk will get a quicker pathway to authorisation by exemption and not require registration.

“Although the current framework has served New Zealand well, a review by the Ministry for Regulation last year found that improvements could be made and these amendments to the ACVM Act reflect this.”

The ACVM Amendment Bill works in tandem with the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Amendment Bill, also introduced earlier this week. Novel products cannot be registered under the ACVM Act until they have approval under the HSNO Act.

“Together, the Bills will establish a more adaptive regulatory framework that maintains safety, supports trade competitiveness, and aligns with international best practices, while improving timely access to agricultural and horticultural products,” says Mr Hoggard

© Scoop Media