{"id":532663,"date":"2026-03-11T06:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T06:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/532663\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T06:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T06:11:11","slug":"australias-pesticide-regulator-sets-new-rules-banning-some-rat-baits-from-public-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/532663\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s pesticide regulator sets new rules banning some rat baits from public sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over-the-counter rat baits could soon be taken off shelves after the federal regulator announced it would be declaring significant restrictions on popular commercially available poisons.<\/p>\n

After starting a chemical review into rodenticides four years ago, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has published a recommendation to certify second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) as restricted chemical products (RCP).<\/p>\n

The RCP status would mean the purchasing of products containing certain ingredients would be restricted to individuals who meet specific licensing requirements.<\/p>\n

SGARs have a devastating effect on native reptiles and birds, including owls, that receive lethal or crippling doses when they consume already-poisoned rodents.<\/p>\n

Wildlife advocates have been calling for the ban due to the poison’s risk on native animals.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Wildlife carers in WA’s South West say owls like this one were poisoned after ingesting widely-used rat baits. (ABC South West: Madigan Landry)<\/p>\n

Regulator embraces feedback<\/p>\n

APVMA chief executive Scott Hansen said the decision would change the way baits were accessed.<\/p>\n

“You would need to demonstrate and show your accreditation or your licence to be able to purchase,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They will only be available for sale to people who have demonstrated competencies and experience, which in most cases will mean they’ll be taken off the shelves of retail outlets.”<\/p>\n

The recommendation marks the first time the APVMA has certified a chemical as an RCP in over a decade.<\/p>\n

In December last year the APVMA published a draft decision<\/a> that only went as far as mandating changes to labelling and instructions.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Scott Hansen says the changes to the recommendation have come in response to extensive consultation with stakeholders. (Supplied: APVMA)<\/p>\n

Mr Hansen said the final recommendation came after extensive consultation with state and territory authorities on the implications of the draft decision.<\/p>\n

“The feedback highlighted that it would be a much simpler and straightforward way to police the fact that SGARs were only sold to people who were trained and competent in their use by making them a restricted chemical product,” he said.<\/p>\n

It is now the responsibility of state and territory regulators, in coordination with the APVMA, to identify what criteria and training would allow individuals to purchase the poisons.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Wildlife advocates say the ruling is a first step, and a more comprehensive ban is needed. (ABC South West: Madigan Landry)<\/p>\n

Mr Hansen said the regulator hoped new restrictions would minimise the impacts the poisons had on the environment.<\/p>\n

“Their toxicology, their long half-life in the environment \u2026 means that they are a threat and a risk to non-target species,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The way in which they are used needs to be very carefully monitored, very carefully deployed to ensure that you minimise that risk to non-target species.”<\/p>\n

Significant change to wildlife safety<\/p>\n

Animal advocacy groups have been lobbying across the country for a ban on SGARs since 2020.<\/p>\n

In the South West of WA, Capes Raptor Centre manager Tara Finch said the latest recommendation was a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n

“Ideally we would like them completely out of use,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Carcasses tested for rodenticide poisoning have highlighted the damage rat baits are doing to native owl populations. (ABC South West: Madigan Landry)<\/p>\n

“Anywhere they’re being used they have that potential to be causing harm and you can’t guarantee they’re going to remove poisoned rodents from the environment.<\/p>\n

“It definitely goes a long way to reducing the harm to our wildlife.”<\/p>\n

Ms Finch said it was a relief to see the regulator respond to the concerns raised by advocacy groups.<\/p>\n

“There’s been such a huge upswelling of support from the general public, which has been fantastic, for Australians to really care about our wildlife, our raptors, our owls,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s great that the government has responded to the community’s concerns.”<\/p>\n

The AVPMA will work with state and territory governments to enact the ban in coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over-the-counter rat baits could soon be taken off shelves after the federal regulator announced it would be declaring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,264449,44,140310,53298,264447,264448,264445,264450,41844,45,264446],"class_list":["post-532663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-avpma","tag-news","tag-rat-bait","tag-rat-poison","tag-rat-poison-safe-for-birds","tag-rat-poison-safe-for-dogs","tag-ratsak","tag-rodenticide-restricted","tag-south-west-news","tag-wa-news","tag-where-to-buy-rat-poison"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}