Women may soon be able to get oral contraceptive pills from a chemist if a recommendation by the Medicines Classification Committee is approved.

Women may soon be able to use expired prescriptions from a doctor to get birth control pills from a pharmacy.

The Medicines Classification Committee has recommended selected oral contraceptives be reclassified as restricted, rather than prescription medicine.

If there were no objections to the recommendations before February 9, the change would mean pharmacists could dispense birth control pills to women who had received a doctor's prescription anytime within the last three years.

Pharmacists would need to gain special training to be able to dispense the contraceptives.

Green Cross Health Ltd, owner of pharmacy chains Unichem and Life Pharmacy, had been lobbying the committee for a reclassification of oral contraceptives since April 2014.

A second, revised submission to the committee for a reclassification was made in May 2015.

This would have allowed pharmacists to prescribe oral contraceptives to women who met "specific criteria".

The committee declined the submission on the grounds it had no support from any medical organisations.

Green Cross objected to the decision and submitted another proposal, that would allow women with an expired prescription to access oral contraception from a pharmacy.

The revised proposal was recommended by the committee on January 22.

"This ground-breaking initiative . . . allows New Zealand women convenient access to oral contraceptives through their pharmacist," Green Cross' head of professional services Alison Van Wyk said.

The New Zealand Medical Association had been opposed to the recommendation, saying the change could deny women the appropriate medical care needed when taking an oral contraceptive.

In a letter to the committee, president Stephen Child said one of the most important aspects of prescribing oral contraceptive pills was advice and counselling about its use and about sexual health in general, especially for younger women.

"It is difficult to envisage how this can be done well in a pharmacy setting."

On Thursday, Child said NZMA was yet to discuss its response to the committee's recommendation.

It had "no problem with it in principle", but there were concerns about the process behind it, he said.

Van Wyk said pharmacists were the "key providers of primary care" in their communities.

"As trained health professionals, they are well-equipped to consult with women about their contraception needs and provide an accessible option for women to obtain oral contraceptives."

Between 140,000 and 200,000 women in New Zealand take oral contraceptives and until now initial and repeat prescriptions were available only from a GP, family planning clinic or specialist.

It was estimated a three-month supply from a pharmacy would cost $45, meaning the change would not necessarily make it cheaper for women, Van Wyk said.

Access to oral contraception from a pharmacy would be helpful for women who found they had run out of their supply on the weekend when a doctor's appointment was not possible, or while they were travelling.