​The registration of agricultural and veterinary chemicals in Australia began in the 1930s. The focus of the early schemes was on preventing the sale of defective products, and the bodies responsible for regulation of chemicals were independent state and territory organisations. In 1969 an informal arrangement was decided upon, under the auspices of the then Australian Agricultural Council (AAC) by which the Commonwealth and the states agreed on a two-stage process for approval procedures. The Commonwealth government took responsibility for evaluation and issuing of clearance certificates for the chemicals, and the states assumed responsibility for registration.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the regulation of agricultural and veterinary chemicals in Australia with particular reference to the introduction of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (New South Wales) Bill 1994.