NZ vets say only one antibiotic remains viable for commercial poultry use.
Veterinarians working in New Zealand’s commercial poultry industry say they are concerned limited access to critical medicines such as vaccines and antibiotics is risking the industry’s future.
But New Zealand Food Safety says this country’s vaccine situation is complex and they have to be wary of potential risks to agricultural security.
Dr Alex-Kate Langfield, director and senior veterinarian of Hatch House, Australasian poultry consulting and support services, said she had real concerns for the future outcome of New Zealand’s poultry sector.
Langfield said the industry had only one viable antibiotic, chlortetracycline, and a limited selection of old and outdated vaccines.
“We know there are effective and safe vaccines out there, but they are not available to us here.”
Langfield said this left the industry forced to use antibiotics as a prophylactic.
“This is not best practice, it’s not what New Zealanders want, and it significantly increases the risk of antimicrobial resistance.”
In February 2025, the Ministry for Regulation released recommendations from a review of New Zealand’s agricultural and horticultural products regulatory process.
It found the approval process can take between five and eight years.
The review made 16 recommendations, which Cabinet has agreed to implement.
And the regulators – the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) team within New Zealand Food Safety/Ministry for Primary Industries, and the Environmental Protection Authority – say they have work under way to achieve targets for reducing the queue for approvals.
But, eight months on, those at the coalface say they are yet to see any action.
Langfield, who works across the poultry industry in Australia and New Zealand, said the industry here should be able to utilise stocks of vaccines and antibiotics registered and used in Australia.
“We’re a tiny market here and simply not big enough to sustain product registrants, especially given vaccines and antibiotics are updated regularly,” she said.
“A four- to five-year registration process makes that unviable here, whereas it’s around two years in Australia, where they have a self-sustaining supply.”
One of the review recommendations is to harmonise with other countries where appropriate.
This would allow the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines team here to use data from its counterpart, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, to register products in New Zealand.
Langfield said this was what the poultry industry wanted, but they had yet to see any change.
“The reality is that our situation is urgent, with limited vaccines and only one antibiotic.
“To prevent resistance to that building up, we need a mix of tools in our toolbox, but our tools are being taken away.”
Dr Dawn Mills, who has been working in the commercial poultry industry as a veterinarian for over 20 years, said that although five or six other antibiotics were registered for use, they were not viable.
“They are either delivered in feed – which sick birds often don’t eat, and is not feasible for smaller producers – or by injection, which is impractical for larger producers with thousands of birds,” she said.
“This may mean treatment is not viable at all, and the alternative is letting the birds die.”
Neither did veterinarians have access to many of the beneficial products, such as probiotics, essential oils and other immunomodulators that support bird health, reduce the need for antibiotics and maintain antibiotic effectiveness.
“The requirement for these companies to carry out costly research in New Zealand when the product has already been tested and proven safe in other countries is a significant disincentive,” Mills said.
“The fact is that while our disease status is different here, our animals aren’t.
“We need to make it easier for companies to bring new products here.”
Boehringer Ingelheim, an animal health product provider, is a strong advocate for regulatory reform.
“As a nation where agriculture drives economic success and pet ownership is among the highest in the world, we feel a responsibility to contribute to the ongoing conversation that shapes the future and viability of animal health in New Zealand,” Dr Greg Little, Boehringer Ingelheim’s head of regulatory affairs and PV, ANZ, said.
He said regulatory harmonisation was an important part of this in an increasingly globally connected pharmaceutical industry.
“Efforts to ensure harmonisation of regulatory requirements, and certainly around timing for regulatory review, can have a strong benefit in promoting innovation, especially in markets where the commercial incentive is lower, but the unmet need remains high.
“Harmonisation allows regulators to leverage global standards and assessments, reduces unnecessary animal testing, prevents duplication of clinical trials, and streamlines post-market evaluations.”
Both the New Zealand Veterinary Association Te Pae Kīrehe and Animal and Plant Health NZ support the roadmap for regulatory change laid out by Cabinet.
Dr Liz Shackleton, chief executive of Animal and Plant Health NZ (APHANZ), said companies, farmers, growers and veterinarians were all providing feedback that they had yet to see tangible results on the ground and that poultry was just one example of wider challenges in accessing animal health tools.
She said the Ministry for Regulation review reported approval path efficiency must be improved.
“Legislative change is a top priority to progress, and the report also confirmed there is much that regulators can do to act now.”
She said it wasn’t about compromising on science or safety – robust, independent assessments were essential.
“This is about risk balance, a regulatory system that considers both hazard and industry context and focuses on the risks that matter most. Results will speak louder than words.”
She said APHANZ backed regulatory reform and international harmonisation, but progress had been slow, despite increased funding, and that members wanted transparency, streamlined approvals and urgent action on systemic delays.
APHANZ has launched a “Blueprint for Rapid Change” to push for faster innovation delivery while respecting regulators’ role, Shackleton said.
Dr Robert Mills, president of the New Zealand Veterinary Association Te Pae Kīrehe, said improving access to a wider range of veterinary products was essential for animal outcomes and welfare.
“Alongside better use of international regulators’ assessments to save time and resources, we would like to see a clear pathway for priority products and medicines so they can be approved quickly and efficiently,” he said.
“We also want to see greater resourcing for [ACVM] to ensure the Ministry for Primary Industries has the people, systems and funding to do this important mahi.
“Paramount is that any legislation maintains a balance between timely access to medicine and robust evaluation of animal products, so we can continue to protect animal health, public health, and the environment.
“The NZVA will continue to support improved access to these medicines in any way we can.”
New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said it could only assess products when an application for registration was submitted under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Act.
Arbuckle said that in the past year, there had been one new poultry-specific registration veterinary medicine application submitted and registered – Zamichlor Soluble, ACVM Reg No A012075.
He said New Zealand’s vaccine situation was complex because there were very few diseases present here, and many overseas vaccines tended to be multivalent (containing more than one antigen active ingredient).
“Vaccines that contain antigens for exotic diseases, especially those with live organisms used as antigens, cannot be granted approval to import under the Biosecurity Act and therefore cannot be registered under the ACVM Act,” he said.
“This is due to the potential risks to agricultural security related to introducing exotic organisms, or to trade with respect to agreements that rely on freedom from disease underpinned by monitoring (vaccination can cause positive test results in some cases).”
With many overseas vaccines being multivalent products, and companies being unable or unwilling to produce vaccines without those organisms for New Zealand use, Arbuckle said the result was vaccines that appeared readily available internationally often couldn’t be registered here due to the additional risks they may present.
“If there is an immediate welfare need in New Zealand flocks and industry veterinarians have identified overseas products that can address that immediate need, they can apply for emergency approval in special circumstances to import that product for animals under their care.
“Broader distribution and long-term use of such products, however, would require registration to ensure NZFS can confirm the product is safe and suitable for the poultry industry and all risks can be managed.”
Arbuckle said NZFS was committed to ongoing communication with the poultry sector to help, and, where possible, to alleviate concerns regarding the registration process and veterinary medicine availability.
He said NZFS was also actively engaging with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to enable mutual recognition of assessments and to fast-track joint registrations.
“We hope to finalise an agreement with the Australian regulator this year.
“We have also initiated work with the UK’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate to align assessment activities for new veterinary medicines.”
Arbuckle said NZFS had a staff member presently attending the annual VICH meeting, an international programme aimed at harmonising technical requirements for veterinary product registrations.
He said that for most countries, industry representatives also attend the conference, working collaboratively alongside their regulators, to add focus and support for harmonisation.
Arbuckle said the New Zealand industry body, Animal and Plant Health New Zealand, had not attended this meeting for the past two years.
He said NZFS supported the Ministry for Regulation’s review recommendation for priority pathways, which could assist the poultry industry, among others.
“We remain committed to a prioritisation pathway, provided that the industry agrees.
“NZFS would support additional resourcing for ACVM, as recommended by Dr Landfield.
“As the ACVM function is fully cost recovered, this would need industry agreement.”