Draft regulations on medicines

DRAFT regulations which provide for significant changes in the existing arrangements governing the supply and use of veterinary medicines have been issued by the Department of Agriculture.

But there has been a critical response from the Animal and Plant Health Association (APHA), the representative body for manufacturers and sole distributors of animal and plant health products in Ireland. It warned that the proposals have the potential to seriously undermine competition and product availability in the animal health sector.

A provision that all medicines for food producing animals should be made subject to prescriptions is one of the proposals in the draft.