The Oireachtas Joint Agriculture, Food and Marine Committee has published a report on the regulation of veterinary medicine.
The report announced today (Monday 28 June) includes key findings and recommendations from four-day hearings with relevant stakeholders between November 2020 and April 2021 to discuss the Veterinary Medicines Regulation, which will come into force in January 2022.
The Oireachtas Committee meetings that led to its report concerned the regulation of veterinary medicines, including the EU regulation on veterinary medicines.
This regulation regulates the authorization, use and monitoring of veterinary medicinal products in the EU. It came into force on January 28, 2019 and will apply in all EU member states from January 2022.
The regulation follows the adoption of a proposal in 2014 to develop “appropriate” veterinary law that would no longer be based on the equivalent authorization system for human medicinal products.
Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill, Chair of the Committee, said: “Given the importance of this change, the Committee agreed to prioritize this issue and hold a series of meetings to review the challenges stakeholders are facing and the changes that are being made they will bring to the agricultural sector to investigate.
“The committee recognizes the role of veterinarians, animal pharmacists and licensed dealers in providing advice and animal health products,” he added.
“The committee and I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has appeared before the committee to make their point.”
Tipperary TD added, “The discussions with stakeholders were critical to the development of this report. From the committee meetings, the joint commitment of all those involved in providing excellent services and caring for the health of the animals is commendable. “
The report includes 10 recommendations that highlight the importance of approved distributors as a key delivery route for veterinary medicinal products.
“Some key questions came up about the role of ‘responsible people’; the possibility of anti-competitive practices; and increased costs for farmers, ”Cahill emphasized.
“While we welcome the mood of the regulations and their efforts, the committee and I hope [Minister Charlie McConalogue] will incorporate our key findings and recommendations into the process of implementing the regulations, ”he concluded.
The committee’s report can be found here.
