Deferral of Deadline on Vet Medicines Would Allow for Meaningful Engagement
IFA Animal Health Chair TJ Maher said that June 1st is fast approaching and there is still no solution to maintain the competitive supply of veterinary medicines for farmers.
“The Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue made a decision to defer the implementation to June 1st to provide time to address the concerns of farmers, Licensed Merchants and veterinary pharmacies. This deadline is now upon us and all stakeholders are left completely unprepared,” he said.
He said the Minister should defer further the implementation of this aspect of the new EU veterinary medicine regulations until a practical approach to this contentious issue is agreed by all stakeholders.
He said the NVPS and the TASAH programmes, in their current formats, are not sufficiently addressing the concerns of farmers.
“All stakeholders are prepared to work to find a suitable solution to address the concern of farmers, licensed merchants and veterinary pharmacies,” he said.
The Animal Health Chairman said that farmers fully support targeted and more appropriate use of all medicines, but additional time will be necessary to find a solution to resolve the genuine concerns around competitive supply.
“It’s within the Minister’s remit to defer this in order to resolve the substantive issue of a competitive supply chain for farmers. This will provide an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with all stakeholders.”
