Petfood, stock feed, dietary supplements (oral nutritional compounds)

If you import, manufacture, sell or use oral nutritional compounds (ONCs) in New Zealand, the ACVM requirements outlined here apply to you. (Use the left-hand menu to work through the requirements.)

(These products may also have requirements under other legislation such as the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, the Animal Products Act 1999, and the Biosecurity Act 1993.)

Defining oral nutritional compound

ONCs are made up of animal feeds (including petfood) and dietary supplements. Animal feeds are basically “total diets” and may include feed additives*. Dietary supplements are nutrient mixes used to increase levels of certain nutrients in the diet.

* A feed additive is a non-nutrient substance added to the feed of animals to improve the preservation, digestion, colour, palatability, texture, or nutritive value of the feed.

If you are unsure of your product’s status under the ACVM Act, we can do a class determination for you. (There is a fee for this service.) For more information on class determination, go to our Overview page (use the left-hand menu).

Definition: agricultural compound

The legal definition of an agricultural compound, as stated in the ACVM Act, is:
... any substance, mixture of substances, or biological compound, used or intended for use in the direct management of plants and animals, or to be applied to the land, place, or water on or in which the plants and animals are managed, for the purposes of:

1. managing or eradicating pests, including vertebrate pests; or
2. maintaining, promoting, or regulating plant or animal productivity and performance or reproduction; or
3. fulfilling special nutritional requirements; or
4. the manipulation, capture, or immobilisation of animals; or
5. diagnosing the condition of animals; or
6. preventing or treating conditions of animals; or
7. enhancing the effectiveness of an agricultural compound used for the treatment of plants and animals; or
8. marking animals; and includes
   1. any veterinary medicine, substance, mixture of substances, or biological compound used for post-harvest pest control or disinfestation of raw primary produce;
   2. anything used or intended to be used as feed for animals; and
   3. and any substance, mixture of substances, or biological compound declared to be an agricultural compound for the purposes of this Act by Order in Council made under subsection (2)