On 19 and 20 February 2026, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) hosted an international conference on Advancing Sustainability in Agriculture: Enabling Precision Application of Crop Protection Products by Inclusion in Regulatory Approaches (Processes), also known as EPAC2026. The event coincided with Agrifutures evokeAG conference, at which the APVMA chaired a session titled Precision at scale: Turning innovation into on-farm reality.
Sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), EPAC2026 was attended by delegates from Australia and overseas from a wide range of stakeholder groups, including regulators from the EU, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ, research and academia, equipment manufacturers, the crop protection industry, growers and grower representatives.
In addition to hearing presentations from a range of national and international speakers, delegates participated in a hands-on workshop held on day 2 of the conference, focusing on 4 key topics:
- Definitions, classifications and use patterns
- Building trust in the technology
- Risk assessment approaches and identifying/addressing regulatory gaps
- Label language and supporting precision application
Over the coming months the APVMA will work to summarise over 560 workshop responses in a report to the OECD to help develop regulatory approaches for precision application of agricultural chemical products.
The initial findings from EPAC2026 were reported to the 41st meeting of the OECD Working Party on Pesticides on Friday 27 February 2026.
APVMA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Scott Hansen, said the outcomes from EPAC2026 will help facilitate a greater understanding of new precision application technologies, and the importance of including these in regulatory processes.
“EPAC2026 provided a rare opportunity for scientific experts from across Australia and the world to meet and contribute to the future regulation of precision application technologies,” said Mr Hansen.
“The outcomes from EPAC2026 will help the APVMA and the community of OECD regulators to prepare for the future of agriculture.”
“On behalf of the APVMA, I would like to thank all those who contributed to and participated in this event – in particular the OECD Co-operative Research Programme as the primary event sponsor – as well as our industry sponsors, event speakers and conference technical and organising teams.”
Recordings and PDF copies of the presentations from day 1, plus the conference program, can be found on the EPAC2026 website.
