In Australia, before an agrochemical product can be sold or used, it first must be registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). In order for a manufacturer to register a product they are required to submit a comprehensive data package to the APVMA. The costs for generating and collating such data are high and unfortunately many crops are too small for agrochemical manufacturers to bear the high cost of registering products for use in those crops. As a result, vegetable growers are often placed in situations where they risk severe crop losses from insects, weeds and diseases because appropriate pesticides are not available. On the other hand, they risk buyers rejecting their produce and other penalties if they are detected using products that are not registered for that specific use. The APVMA’s National Permit System adds some flexibility to the lengthy registration process and legalises the availability of products for minor-use purposes, not specified on the product label. However, off-label permits issued by the APVMA still must be applied for along with information/data that verifies that the permitted use will be effective and will not have any harmful effects on humans, the crops or the environment. This project is of national importance because it goes some way towards addressing the above issues. A total of 32 residue trials, 4 crop safety trial and 2 efficacy trials were conducted in specified regions throughout Australia to support minor-use permits applications for a range of pesticides on a variety of vegetable crops to improve the agro-chemical choices available for growers. These permits include: • buprofezin in celery, cucumber, zucchini and eggplant (field & protected cropping); • bifenazate and petroleum oil in lettuce (protected cropping); • fenhexamid in snow peas and sugar snap peas; • fludioxonil in broccoli; • imidacloprid in rhubarb; • iprodione in celeriac, chillies, paprika and carrots; • mancozeb in shallots, leeks and Asian fruiting vegetables; • methomyl in radish, swede and turnips; • pendimethalin in brassica leafy vegetables and • trifluralin in parsnips. The field and analytical phases for these studies were completed during 2012-13. Data summaries have been submitted to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) with the relevant applications for permits or permit renewals. The major outcome of this project is that if the permit applications are approved, additional pesticide will be available for use by growers of these minor use vegetable crops. Although the outcomes of this project have been met there is an ongoing need for growers to continue to have access to newer and better pesticides in minor use vegetable crops and so similar projects should be planned and conducted in the future.