MINISTER for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, this week acknowledged that EU Regulations 2019/6 on Veterinary Medicinal Products and 2019/4 on Medicated Feed are now in effect since January 28th, 2022.

The regulations provide for a range of measures aimed at increasing the availability of veterinary medicinal products and also tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The Minister said: “These regulations, which have been implemented by supporting national legislation, set out the rules for the manufacture, import, export, sale, supply, distribution, advertisement, and use of veterinary medicinal products and medicated feed in all animal species. These new EU regulations seeks to address the challenges around medicine availability and growing fears around antimicrobial resistance.’’

The Minister continued by saying: “These regulations provide an important framework underpinning the use of antimicrobials in the agricultural sector, contributing to the overall societal ‘One Health’ challenge of AMR – to protect human health, animal health and welfare and the health of our shared environment. The new requirements regarding prescribing and use of antimicrobials serve to promote optimal animal health and food security, in line with objectives in Food Vision 2030. This legislation will also support delivery of strategic objectives in our second national One Health antimicrobial resistance action plan, iNAP2.”

New prescription system

The Minister also welcomed the introduction of a newly developed National Veterinary Prescription System (NVPS) which his Department has released, on a phased basis from January 31st.

This new system initially focuses on the issue of prescriptions and the dispensing of veterinary medicines for food producing animals. The system will ensure that farmers retain full control over where, and facilitate greater choice for farmers when, they get prescriptions dispensed.

The Minister concluded by saying that: “I want this change to be as seamless as possible which will benefit farmers as well as everyone else in the sector. I have worked with all stakeholders in this process to ensure that these new regulations have minimal impact on our farmers.”