Second generation rodent poisons could no longer be bought off supermarket and hardware store shelves in Victoria under a proposed ban.
The Agriculture Legislation Amendment Bill was brought on for debate in Victoria's upper house on Tuesday afternoon.
It will amend 11 different agricultural acts to address measures including biodiversity, chemical use, veterinary practice and food safety.
The bill has bipartisan support but the Victorian Greens have announced a plan to move an amendment to also outlaw the general sale of second generation rodent poisons in supermarkets and hardware stores.
Second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) can be bought off the shelf in stores such as Woolworths and Bunnings.
Unlike first-generation poisons, a blood-thinning chemical used in SGARs can remain active for months and cause secondary poisoning of wildlife such as native eagles and owls that prey on dead and dying rodents.
Federal authorities knocked back a request from NSW last year to use bromadiolone, a SGAR dubbed "napalm for rodents", to control its raging mouse plague over concerns for other wildlife.
Under the proposed Victorian ban, farmers would still be able to purchase second-generation rodent poisons when required, in line with licence rules in Europe.
Ellen Sandell, deputy leader of the Victorian Greens, has urged the Andrews government to back the ban to protect the state's precious wildlife.
"Every year, countless native birds, mammals and pet cats and dogs are poisoned due to eating mice and rats that have ingested dangerous poisons you can buy at the supermarket," she said in a statement.
"These dangerous rat poisons should not be for sale at supermarkets and hardware stores, and many countries have already banned them."
AAP has contacted the Victorian government to ask whether it will support the amendment.
The Victorian Liberals and Nationals have announced they will oppose it, saying rodenticides approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority are put through rigorous tests before coming on the market.
"Recent mouse plagues in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia underline the important role these rodenticides play," Victorian Nationals Leader and opposition agriculture spokesman Peter Walsh said.
"Mouse plagues and the diseases they spread are detrimental to Victoria's food security, environment and human health."
The agriculture amendment bill has previously been subject to debunked viral claims, spread in Australia as well as parts of Europe, that it will ban people from growing their own food.
