Guidelines and standards

On this page:

Our standards

Our standards set out what is expected of veterinarians. All veterinarians in New Zealand must meet these standards.

• Minimum Standards for Practising as a Veterinarian Notice
• Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinarians
• Competency Standards and Performance Indicators for Veterinarians

Our statements

Statements provide more detailed requirements for veterinarians on specific issues. Veterinarians must comply with them.

• Health practitioners undertaking surgical procedures on animals
• Compounding veterinary medicines
• Discretionary use of human and veterinary medicines
• Cattle disbudding and dehorning by non-veterinarians
• Authorisation of Dry Cow Therapy
• Manufacturing of veterinary medicines
• Certification of fitness for transport of livestock

Our guidance

Guidance is prepared to help veterinarians deal with specific issues in practice. It presents a good way of applying professional standards but this may not be the only way. Veterinarians can safely rely on our guidance but they do not have to follow it if they believe another approach is better, provided it complies with our standards and statements and they apply good professional judgment. Because our guidance is specific, it won’t apply in every situation.

• Guidance on anaesthetic monitoring
• Dealing with cases of suspected or actual animal abuse and family violence
• Social media guide
• Guidance on maintaining New Zealand’s biosecurity
• List of non-consented human medicines used by veterinarians
• Mentoring Guidelines

Other guidance for veterinarians

Here is some additional guidance for veterinarians from other sources.

• NZVA policy on the transport of livestock (declaration (certificate) pads can be purchased from the NZVA here)
• Office of Radiation Safety Code of Safe Practice for the use of x-rays in veterinary diagnosis  
• NZVA Vets Wellbeing Publication

COVID-19 specific guidance and standards

Our COVID-19 guidance sets expectations and provides guidance during at any time the country or any part of it is at Alert Levels 2, 3 or 4. It continues to apply in any part of New Zealand that is at Alert Levels 2, 3 or 4. When the Alert Level is 1, the normal standards and guidance above apply.

COVID-19 standards and guidance can be found on our COVID-19 page .