Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Regulations 2017

These Regulations (Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Regulations 2017, S.R. No. 68/2017) set mandatory operational rules for the use, sale, labelling and record-keeping of specified agricultural and veterinary chemical products in Victoria. They came into operation on 23 July 2017 (reg 3) and revoke the 2007 Regulations (reg 4). The instrument is made under ss 27, 45, 47 and 76 of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Act 1992 (reg 2). It defines who must keep which records, when they must be made and how long they must be retained. It prescribes label and advice-note contents for veterinary chemical products sold by veterinary practitioners, and it specifies minimum withholding-period obligations where a product’s approved label sets a period (regs 9-11). It requires notification procedures for aerial or mister spraying near specified places (schools, hospitals, aged care, children’s services) and prescribes required equipment or precautions for aerial spraying (regs 12, 16). The Regulations also identify classes of chemical products that must be used only in accordance with a label or permit (reg 13), and they prohibit possession of certain named agricultural chemicals subject to exceptions (reg 14). They make all agricultural chemical products the prescribed class requiring a licence under s 30(1)(b) of the Act (reg 15). The Regulations set circumstances under which testing of stock or agricultural produce must be at the owner’s expense (reg 17) and prescribe a ground for refusing an authority on training grounds (reg 18).

Mechanically, the instrument imposes time-limited record duties (48 hours for users of agricultural products, 48 hours for certain veterinary product users, 24 hours for veterinary practitioners’ sale/use records), two-year retention periods for those records (regs 6-8), precise content for labels and advice notes (reg 10), and staged notification obligations around aerial/mister spraying (reg 12). Penalties are expressed in penalty units for breaches (penalty amounts vary by regulation; see regs 6(2)-(3), 7(2)-(3), 8(2)-(3), 12(1)-(3), 14(1), 16, etc.). The endnotes confirm the penalty unit value for 2017-18 as $158.57, subject to adjustment by the Monetary Units Act and future Treasurer determination.

The Regulations adopt or incorporate external instruments in specific definitions, including ANSI/ASAE S572.1 for droplet-size classification used in defining “mister” (endnotes, Table of Applied, Adopted or Incorporated Matter). They also operate in a statutory network with Commonwealth and Victorian statutes referenced throughout (definitions and cross‑references in reg 5 and elsewhere). The instrument is due to sunset 10 years after making, on 11 July 2027 (endnotes).

The Regulations organise control of chemical use around a consistent set of operational concepts: specified product classes, record-keeping, labelling and advice notes, withholding periods, notification for certain spraying activities, equipment standards for aerial spraying, possession prohibitions, licensing requirements, owner-liability testing, and administrative fitness to hold authorities.

Prescribed product classes and usage in accordance with labels: reg 13 lists the “prescribed chemical products” that must be used in accordance with instructions on the label or a permit for the purposes of s 19(4) of the Act. The list excludes home garden products and includes agricultural chemical products that are Schedule 7 Poisons, or that contain atrazine, metham sodium, certain ester formulations of MCPA, 2,4‑D, 2,4‑DB, or triclopyr. This creates a bright-line set of product categories where deviation from label/permit instructions is prohibited by the Act via the prescribing mechanism.

Record-keeping and time windows: Users and sellers face tightly framed time limits for creating records. For agricultural chemical product use, a written record must be made within 48 hours and retained for two years (reg 6(2)-(3)). For certain veterinary chemical product uses, a 48-hour creation and two-year retention rule applies (reg 7(2)-(3)). When veterinary practitioners sell or use certain veterinary chemical products for stock, the practitioner must create a written record within 24 hours and retain it for two years (reg 8(2)-(3)). The Regulations set precise content items for these records (trade name, date, rate, location, wind info for outdoor sprays, persons involved, animal identification and treatment dates and quantities) (regs 6-8).

Labelling and advice notes: For veterinary chemical products used on stock, reg 9 links to s 18(1)(b) of the Act by prescribing that all veterinary chemical products must be accompanied either by an APVMA-approved label or, where sold by a veterinary practitioner for non‑label uses or sold in bulk, a label or advice note complying with reg 10. Reg 10 prescribes the contents of labels or advice notes (business contact details, date, animal particulars, directions, withholding period or “Nil withholding period required”, batch/expiry and, for unregistered products, active ingredient and concentration). Advice notes must be given before or at initial treatment (reg 10(4)).

Withholding periods and veterinary discretion: Reg 11 requires a veterinary practitioner to ensure the label or advice note specifies a withholding period at least as long as is appropriate compared with manufacturer/APVMA directions. If the practitioner alters instructions or for unregistered products, the practitioner's label/advice note must specify a withholding period sufficient to prevent contamination of stock or produce at the expiry of the period (reg 11(1)-(2)). This embeds a cautious default: practitioners cannot shorten manufacturer/APVMA withholding periods and must provide sufficient protection where the product is used off-label or is unregistered.

The Regulations reach a broad group of actors in agricultural and veterinary supply and use chains. The immediately affected categories are: users of agricultural chemical products (farmers, contractors, land occupiers), veterinary practitioners, persons treating stock other than veterinary practitioners, sellers of veterinary chemical products (including veterinary practitioners selling to livestock owners), aerial spray operators and pilots, ground-based spray contractors, occupiers of land within 200 metres of specified places, custodians or managers of specified places (principals, site managers, persons in charge of services), and owners of stock or agricultural produce.

Users of agricultural chemical products are placed directly under reg 6. That regulation applies to most users except where excluded in reg 6(1): household products and home garden products applied by hand or by a hand-operated device are out; persons holding authorised-user licences under Division 2 of Part 7 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 applying a product in or associated with dwellings or certain non‑primary production commercial buildings are excluded; and persons using an agricultural chemical product to clean a swimming pool or spa are excluded. Hence gardeners using hand-held garden sprays in domestic settings are excluded, while commercial primary producers, contractors and many occupiers are caught.

Veterinary practitioners have specific duties under reg 8 and reg 10-11. When they sell or use specified veterinary chemical products for the treatment of stock, they must create and retain records within 24 hours, supply labels or advice notes, and ensure withholding periods meet or exceed APVMA directions or are sufficient where the use is off‑label or the product is unregistered (regs 8, 10, 11). Veterinary practitioners selling unregistered products must record active constituents and concentrations (reg 8(2)(d)).

Persons other than veterinary practitioners who use veterinary chemical products on stock are covered by reg 7 when the product is a Schedule 4 Poison, when withholding periods apply, or when it is a hormonal growth promotant. Those persons must create records within 48 hours and retain them for two years (reg 7).

Aerial and mister spray operators and occupiers: reg 12 binds occupiers who employ or contract aerial/mister spraying within 200 metres of specified places to advise the contractor in writing of the specified place at the time of contract (reg 12(1)). The contractor (sprayer) must provide at least 24 hours’ notice to the occupier of the product and timing (reg 12(2)). Occupiers within 200 metres must make every reasonable effort to notify the responsible person for the specified place at least 12 hours before spraying (reg 12(3)). The specified places are schools, hospitals (a broad category per Health Services Act 1988), aged care premises and children’s services (reg 12(4)).

The Regulations create discrete duties around record-keeping, labelling, notification, equipment operation, ownership obligations for testing, possession prohibitions and licensing. They also create limited rights that arise from compliance pathways, such as the right to hold a permit that allows possession or use otherwise prohibited (reg 14(2)(c)), and the administrative right to seek an authority, subject to training grounds (reg 18).

Record-keeping duties:

• Users of agricultural chemical products must make a written record within 48 hours and keep it for two years (reg 6(2)-(3)). Mandatory fields include trade name, date of use, application rate or sufficient data to calculate it, crop/commodity/situation, specific location, wind speed and direction for outdoor spraying, name and contact details of the person applying and, if applicable, supervisor and the person for whom the application was carried out (reg 6(2)(a)-(i)). The penalty for failure is 10 penalty units.
• Persons using veterinary chemical products that are Schedule 4 Poisons for stock, products with withholding periods, or hormonal growth promotants must make similar records within 48 hours and retain them for two years (reg 7(1)-(3)). Required fields include trade name, date, species and location, identification number or distinguishing description, dates of first and subsequent treatments, and quantity used (reg 7(2)(a)-(g)). Penalty: 10 units.
• Veterinary practitioners selling or using specified veterinary chemical products for stock must create records within 24 hours, retain for two years, and include product name, directions, buyer name/address, active constituent details for unregistered products, amount sold/used, species and location, and withholding period if any (reg 8(1)-(3)). Penalty: 10 units.

Label and advice‑note duties:

• For the purposes of s 18(1)(b) of the Act, reg 9 prescribes that all veterinary chemical products used on stock must be accompanied by an APVMA-approved label for a specified species, or by a label/advice note compliant with reg 10 in cases where the use is off-label, the product is sold in bulk, or a complex dosage regime applies (reg 9(a)-(b)).
• Reg 10 prescribes the precise content of such labels/advice notes (business contact details of the veterinary practitioner, sale date, species/age/breed/sex, directions, withholding period or “Nil withholding period required”, batch/expiry where known, product name for registered products unless manufacturer-labelled, and active-constituent details for unregistered products) and requires attachment of label to each container and/or supply of an advice note before or at initial treatment (reg 10(2)-(4)). Penalties arise under the Act when prescribed requirements are not met (see reg 9 which links this requirement to s 18(1)(b)).

Penalties in the Regulations are expressed in penalty units, with specified penalties attached to individual breaches. The endnotes set out the penalty‑unit framework and give the 2017-18 value of a penalty unit as $158.57, subject to the Monetary Units Act 2004 and annual Treasurer publication (endnotes). Enforcement is achieved by linking prescribed contraventions to the Act’s enforcement architecture (for example, reg 9 links to s 18(1)(b) offences under the Act and reg 13 gives effect to s 19(4)). Several enforcement features and penalty quantum specifics follow from the text.

Specified penalty amounts and offences:

• Record-keeping breaches: reg 6 (agricultural chemical product user record filing and retention) carries penalties of 10 penalty units for failing to make the record within 48 hours (reg 6(2) penalty) and 10 penalty units for failing to keep the records for two years (reg 6(3) penalty). Reg 7 (veterinary chemical product user records) mirrors these penalties (10 units for creation, 10 units for retention). Reg 8 imposes a 10-unit penalty for veterinary practitioners who fail to create or retain the required sale/use records within 24 hours or for two years.
• Spraying notification: reg 12(1) and (2) impose 15 penalty units for failing to adhere to the occupier/contractor notification duties. Reg 12(3) raises the penalty for occupiers who fail to make every reasonable effort to notify responsible persons at specified places to 20 penalty units.
• Possession of prohibited substances: reg 14(1) prescribes a penalty of 15 penalty units for possession of listed substances, subject to reg 14(2) exceptions.
• Aerial spraying equipment: reg 16 prescribes a penalty of 15 penalty units for carrying out aerial spraying without one or more of the listed precautions.
• Recordkeeping for veterinary practitioners (reg 8) and labelling obligations (failure to supply prescribed labels/advice notes under reg 10) are actionable under the Act’s offence provisions, with reg 9 explicitly prescribing the class and requirement for s 18(1)(b) purposes.

Enforcement mechanisms and interlinkages:

• The Regulations themselves do not create separate enforcement authorities. They are made under the Act and thus enforcement measures, notices and powers in the Act will be the mechanisms to bring breaches to notice and to impose sanctions (the Regulations reference multiple Act provisions: s 18(1)(b) in reg 9, s 19(4) in reg 13, s 30(1)(b) in reg 15, s 56(2)(e)(i) in reg 17, and Schedule 1 clause 3(4)(b) in reg 18). Reg 17 also outlines administrative reasons under s 56 for requiring owner-funded testing , that is, an enforcement tool leading to a cost placed on owners suspected or convicted of contraventions.

The Regulations are heavily cross-referenced to both Victorian and Commonwealth statutory frameworks and imported standards. They operate as subordinate legislation under the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Act 1992 and repeatedly reference other Acts and administrative regimes. These interactions shape scope, standards and enforcement.

Primary enabling and Act linkages:

• The Regulations are made under ss 27, 45, 47 and 76 of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Act 1992 (reg 2). Several Regulations give effect to specific Act provisions: reg 9 interfaces with s 18(1)(b) of the Act to prescribe the class and requirement for labelling offences; reg 13 gives effect to s 19(4) by prescribing products to be used in accordance with label or permit; reg 15 implements s 30(1)(b) licensing class requirements; reg 17 links to s 56(2)(e)(i) regarding owner-paid testing; reg 18 gives content to clause 3(4)(b) of Schedule 1 to the Act regarding refusal grounds for authorities.

APVMA and Agvet Code:

• The Regulations defer to APVMA approvals and the Agvet Code of Victoria where labels and registration status are central. “Registered veterinary chemical product” is defined as registered under Part 2 of the Agvet Code of Victoria (reg 5). Reg 10 relies on APVMA-approved labels as the baseline for labelling compliance and reg 11 requires veterinary practitioners to ensure withholding periods are no less than those appropriate relative to APVMA-issued manufacturer directions. This binds Victorian obligations to Commonwealth regulatory outcomes and manufacturer instructions , veterinary practitioners must observe or exceed APVMA-guided withholding periods.

Other Victorian Acts referenced in definitions:

• The Regulations import statutory definitions from a range of Victorian laws: Aged Care Act 1997 (aged care service definition), Children’s Services Act 1996 (children’s service), Health Services Act 1988 (hospital definitions), Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (school), Veterinary Practice Act 1997 (veterinary practitioner) and the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (authorised users exemption for certain uses) (reg 5). These cross‑references determine the scope of “specified place”, who counts as a veterinary practitioner, and which users are exempted from record duties.

Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act:

• “Schedule 4 Poison” and “Schedule 7 Poison” have the meanings given in s 4(1) of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981, drawing the poison-scheduling framework into application of reg 7 (records for Schedule 4) and reg 13 (Schedule 7 products) and reg 14 (possession prohibitions relating to poisons).

The Regulations as published (Version No. 001) show a limited amendment history in the source. Key chronological facts in the instrument and endnotes are:

• The Regulations were made on 11 July 2017 by the Lieutenant-Governor as the Governor’s Deputy with Executive Council advice, under the stated authorising provisions (reg 2) and came into operation on 23 July 2017 (reg 3; endnotes).
• They expressly revoke the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Regulations 2007 (S.R. No. 82/2007) (reg 4).
• Endnotes state that there are no amendments made to the Regulations by statutory rules, subordinate instruments or Acts up to the date of the printed version (endnotes 2: Table of Amendments - “There are no amendments made to the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Regulations 2017 by statutory rules, subordinate instruments and Acts.”).
• Endnotes also state there are no amendments “Not in Operation” at the date of publication (endnotes 3).
• The instrument will sunset 10 years after the day of making on 11 July 2027 pursuant to the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 (endnotes).
• Table of Applied, Adopted or Incorporated Matter in the endnotes records the applied standard: ANSI/ASAE S572.1 (Spray Nozzle Classification by Droplet Spectra), noting that the whole standard is applied for the definition of “mister” (endnotes). This is an applied external standard included at the time of making and forms part of the regulatory text (per regulation interpretation notes).
• The explanatory details in the endnotes list the penalty-unit framework references, including the 2017-18 penalty-unit value of $158.57 (endnotes). That value is included for convenience but is subject to annual Treasurer determinations and the Monetary Units Act.

Practical consequences of the amendment record:

• As of the version provided, no post‑commencement amendments or statutory-rule modifications are recorded in the instrument text. That means the operational obligations, prescribed lists (e.g. reg 13 chemical list) and penalties are as originally made in 2017.
• Practitioners should monitor the Subordinate Legislation Register and Government Gazette for any amendments prior to the sunset date or for replacement instruments. The endnotes indicate the mechanism and timing of sunset and provide an administrative pointer for agencies to begin revision processes well before expiry.
• Because an external standard is incorporated, any future change to that standard (ANSI/ASAE S572.1) may affect how “misters” are characterised; the endnotes indicate the standard is “as published from time to time,” suggesting regulatory application may track updates to that technical instrument.

The Regulations text and endnotes supplied do not record any judicial decisions, tribunal determinations or litigation history interpreting the Regulations. The instrument does not include references to case law or to any legal proceedings, and the endnotes explicitly record the legislative history aspects (making, commencement, revocation of the 2007 Regulations) without any mention of court challenges or judicial interpretation. Consequently, within the four corners of the source supplied, there is no recorded litigation history.

Implications of the absence of recorded litigation in the source:

• Where the Regulations create factual or technical standards (for example, the imported ANSI/ASAE S572.1 droplet‑sizing classification used to define “mister”), absence of case law means there is no settled judicial guidance in this instrument about how to resolve disputes over the technical application of that standard. Adjudicators and regulators will therefore rely on the standard itself and on expert evidence if disputes arise.
• Several provisions require subjective assessments by regulators (for example, whether an occupier has made “every reasonable effort” to notify a responsible person under reg 12(3), or whether a chief administrator is “satisfied” about an applicant’s relevant training under reg 18). With no litigation precedents recorded in the instrument, the precise limits of those discretionary standards are not articulated in the Regulations themselves and will depend on later administrative practice or judicial review principles if challenged.
• The Regulations create record‑keeping obligations with tight timing windows (24/48 hours) and specified content fields (regs 6-8). In the absence of appellate or judicial clarification in the instrument, questions of what constitutes an “accurate written record” or whether a specific form of electronic recording meets the requirement will be matters for enforcement agencies or future judicial consideration.
• Reg 11 requires veterinary practitioners to ensure withholding periods are “no less than the period which is appropriate for the circumstances” relative to APVMA/manufacturer directions and to specify a sufficient withholding period where instructions differ or products are unregistered. Absent case law in the Regulations, the sufficiency standard and its application to complex dosage regimes will be untested in the instrument.

What to do in practice where litigation history is absent:

• Expect that contested interpretations will involve technical evidence (APVMA labels, product formulation data, records of spraying, wind records, appliance calibration and droplet-size analysis) and administrative‑law principles (reasonableness, procedural fairness, statutory construction).

The Regulations are operationally precise and contain multiple traps for the unwary. The following are concrete pitfalls built from the text that compliance officers, practitioners and operators should note.

Tight timing windows for records:

• Agricultural chemical product users must create records within 48 hours (reg 6(2)); veterinary practitioners must create sale/use records within 24 hours (reg 8(2)). These are short windows. Delays in data entry or reliance on manual filing after operations can attract penalties (10 penalty units for record creation failures). Electronic capture must timestamp entries and preserve integrity to support compliance.

Mandatory record content is detailed:

• Records must include specific, sometimes technical fields: for outdoor sprays, wind speed and direction at the time of spraying must be recorded (reg 6(2)(f)). For livestock, unique identification or distinguishing descriptions are required where known (reg 7(2)(d)). Missing any prescribed field can put the record outside the regulation’s requirements and expose the user to penalties.

Exemptions are narrow and situation‑dependent:

• Reg 6(1) excludes household and home‑garden products applied by hand or hand‑operated devices, but not other uses. A product sold for home‑garden use but applied by a contractor using powered equipment could fall outside the exemption and thus attract record duties. Nor do the exemptions cover primary production uses in commercial settings , these are caught.

Labelling and APVMA interplay:

• Veterinary practitioners cannot substitute shorter withholding periods; reg 11(1) requires specifying a withholding period no less than that “appropriate for the circumstances” compared with APVMA/manufacturer directions. Where a practitioner’s instructions differ, reg 11(2) requires a withholding period sufficient to prevent contamination. Determining sufficiency is a context-driven judgement that could create liability if conservative judgement is not applied.

Advice notes timing:

• Advice notes for veterinary chemical products must be supplied before or at the time of initial treatment (reg 10(4)). Selling and immediately treating stock without delivering an advice note risks non-compliance even if a label accompanies the product.

Who must notify whom and when around aerial/mister spraying:

• Multiple actors bear notification duties with different lead times. The occupier who engages a person must advise the contractor in writing at the time of contracting about the specified place (reg 12(1)). The contractor must give the occupier at least 24 hours’ notice of product and timing (reg 12(2)). Occupiers within 200 metres must make every reasonable effort to notify the responsible person at the specified place at least 12 hours before spraying (reg 12(3)). Failing any link in this chain could produce penalties, and the “every reasonable effort” standard is fact-sensitive and potentially contestable.

Compliance requires coordinated steps across operational, recordkeeping, labelling, notification and training processes. The following is a practical checklist keyed to the Regulations (with cited provisions) designed for compliance officers, veterinary practices, contractors and primary producers.

1. Implement time-stamped record systems

• For agricultural chemical product uses, ensure a system that captures the required fields within 48 hours and stores records for two years (reg 6(2)-(3)). Mandatory fields include trade name, date, rate or calculable information, crop/situation, specific location, wind speed and direction for outdoor spraying, name/contact of applicator, supervisor and client where applicable (reg 6(2)(a)-(i)).
• For veterinary chemical product users that are non‑veterinary practitioners (applying Schedule 4 Poisons or products with withholding periods or hormonal growth promotants), capture records within 48 hours and retain for two years (reg 7(1)-(3)). Capture species, location, identification (if known), first and subsequent treatment dates, and quantity used (reg 7(2)).
• Veterinary practitioners must use a system to create records within 24 hours of sale/use when selling or using veterinary chemical products for stock and to retain them for two years (reg 8(2)-(3)). Ensure fields include directions, buyer name/address, active constituent details for unregistered products, amount sold/used, species/location and withholding periods (reg 8(2)(a)-(h)).
• Use electronic timestamps and immutable logs (read-only storage) to support proof of contemporaneous entries.

2. Label and advice-note procedures

• For veterinary practitioners, prepare a label/advice-note template that meets reg 10(2) requirements: practice/business name, address and telephone number; date; species, age, breed, sex; directions; withholding period or “Nil withholding period required”; batch number and expiry if known; product name for registered products unless manufacturer label is attached; active constituent name and concentration for unregistered products (reg 10(2)(a)-(h)). Attach labels to each container (reg 10(3)) and ensure an advice note is supplied before or at initial treatment (reg 10(4)).
• When prescribing or issuing instructions different from APVMA-approved labels, conservatively calculate a withholding period that is sufficient to prevent contamination, and document the rationale (reg 11(2)). Do not specify a withholding period shorter than the APVMA/manufacturer-based baseline appropriate for the circumstances (reg 11(1)).