Latest news with #VeterinaryMedicinalProducts
Irish Examiner
05-08-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
New veterinary medicines rules will put small independent traders out of business, minister warned
A range of veterinary medicines, currently available over the counter, will become prescription only from September 1. But agriculture minister Martin Heydon has been urged to postpone the implementation of the new regulations. Senator P J Murphy called on him in the Upper House to conduct a full and independent review of the economic and social impact before the sector is regrettably and permanently damaged. He said the move under the new Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act 2023 would deem all antiparasitic veterinary drugs to be prescription only. These remedies are used on farms on a day-to-day basis to treat cattle for conditions such as worms, fluke and lice. Mr Murphy said the products were on the market under tight Department of Agriculture control, with experienced well-trained staff providing advice to farmers at the point of sale. According to new EU harmonised legislation, prescribing must be undertaken by veterinary practitioners, who are also permitted to sell and dispense these products. Most importantly, there is no requirement for vets to keep prescribing and dispensing separate from one another, creating a concerning conflict of interest. 'This shift is not just a regulatory update. It is an economic and structural seismic shift to the many small independent licensed traders across this country. 'According to the Central Statistics Office, Ireland's veterinary medicines market is worth approximately €400m annually. 'While €300m of this already ends up with veterinary practitioners, the remaining €100m goes to a network of small, independent merchants and co-ops found in towns and villages across rural Ireland,' he said. Mr Murphy said the Independent Licensed Merchants Association, which represents 350 of these smaller merchants countrywide, warns only 38 of its members can remain in business under these new rules. 'That is a potential loss of nearly 90% of this industry. This is a choice that is anti-competitive,' he said. He said the justification given for this change was the need to combat antimicrobial resistance and improve traceability and oversight via the national veterinary prescription system, which requires all prescriptions to be on a central controlled database. 'However, as a person who has worked my whole life in the cattle farming sector and administered these medications on thousands of occasions, I assure this House that we as farmers are not in the habit of overusing these expensive medications and do not use them when they are not necessary. Indeed, it quite on the contrary. I fear the inevitable price rise, which will result from the gifting of a monopoly on the sale of these crucial antiparasitic products, could result in their under-use, leading to severe animal welfare concerns. 'I have great fear that it could also lead to an increase in the purchasing of these medicines through black market sources,' he said. Mr Murphy said while the goals of health and EU compliance were important, implementation must reflect Irish rural reality. Without safeguards for independent merchants, this regulation risks creating a dangerous monopoly in the veterinary medicine distribution sector, he said. Fine Gael senator Mark Duffy said from discussions he had with the farming community in Co Mayo, there were serious concerns about the upcoming proposals and changes and how these threatened to monopolise the market. 'We need to have a discussion before these changes are brought into effect because it could have serious ramifications and increases in cost for farmers,' he said. Senator Sean Kyne, leader of the House, said the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act was passed in the Houses of the Oireachtas in the summer of 2023. 'That is the law we are working with. There may be some sections that are now being commenced, but the law has been agreed and passed. There were debates on those matters at the time. 'I will raise this matter again with the minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon. Perhaps there are issues with the commencement of some of these regulations,' he said.
Agriland
13-06-2025
- Health
- Agriland
1 out of 1,000 NVPS prescriptions purchased at merchants
Only 85 out of some 85,000 veterinary prescriptions, or around 1 out of every 1,000, lodged on the new National Veterinary Prescription System (NVPS) were purchased from a licenced merchant or pharmacist. The figure as revealed by Dr. Caroline Garvan, senior superintending veterinary inspector at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Dr. Garvan was speaking at a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food this week, when she was asked by Aontú TD for Mayo Paul Lawless how many of the 85,000 prescriptions on the NVPS since it launched in January were purchased at the site of a merchant or pharmacist. Dr. Garvan said that the figure is 'very, very low' confirming that the number currently is 85. The NVPS has been established under the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act, which, among other requirements, mandates that certain veterinary medicines that previously could be purchased by farmers without a prescription would now require a prescription from a vet. Under the new law, prescriptions issued for vets for those medicines would be lodged on the NVPS. The purpose of this rule change is to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in farm animals by requiring a veterinary prescription before medicines are supplied. The regulation has led to concerns from licenced merchants of veterinary medicines, as well as many politicians, that vets which stock veterinary medicines would be in a position to retail the medicines they issue prescriptions for, reducing competition from merchants and potentially squeezing them out of business. According to Lawless, the figure of 85 prescriptions purchased at merchants or pharmacists out of 85,000 is 'not a good start' in terms of allaying those concerns. The figure suggests that out of those 85,000 prescriptions, over 84,000 were supplied by a vet (although there was no indication given as to how many of those vets were the prescribing vet). However, according to Dr. Garvan, veterinary medicines generally purchased by farmers at this time of year would normally not be supplied by licenced merchants, even before the new law. 'The products that are currently being prescribed would not be supplied generally by a licenced retailer, so why would they get the prescription?' she said. 'The products that are up there [on the NVPS] now are antibiotics predominantly, which are treating diseases during the spring. They're never supplied by a licenced retailer, so they wouldn't be dispensing them,' Dr. Garvan added. Dr. Garvan also told Senator Paul Daly that the licenced retailers may be continuing to get paper prescriptions, as not all vets are using the NVPS system yet. 'I think it's important to say we don't have eyes on all the prescriptions issued this spring. It's highly likely that the retailers are still getting prescriptions, but they're getting paper prescriptions because we don't have all the vets using the system, so we can't say they are not dispensing prescriptions at retail level,' she said. However, Daly said: 'There's plenty room for error in a figure between 85 and 85,000.' Dr. Garvey then went on to cite data which suggests that, while supply of some veterinary medicines from co-operatives have decreased, the supply from licenced merchants have not, and that vets 'did not get all the supply that the co-ops lost'. She noted that increasing use of selective dry cow therapy may be reducing the need for antibiotics in the dairy sector, saying: 'It's a real example of the progress on AMR.'
Agriland
11-06-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Oireachtas agri committee to grill stakeholders on vet medicines bill
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, and Food will hear from stakeholder bodies in the veterinary sector this week on the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act 2023. The committee will meet today (Wednesday, June 11) from 3:30p.m for an examination of the impacts of the bill. The meeting will take place in Committee Room 4 of Leinster House. From 3:30p.m to 4:20p.m representatives from Merchants Alliance Ireland will address the Oireachtas committee. Merchants Alliance Ireland was formed by the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), the Irish Licensed Merchants Association (ILMA) and Acorn Independent Merchants, to represent mutually shared interests on areas of joint concern for the agricultural merchants and retail sector. The representatives addressing the meeting will include Ray Doyle, livestock and environmental services executive for ICOS, as well as Barry Larkin, Terence O'Shea, and Ollie Ryan. Then from 4:20p.m to 5:10p.m the committee will hear from officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. These officials will include Bill Callanan, the department's chief inspector, as well as officials from the department's veterinary section. Finally, from 5:10p.m, the committee will hear from representatives from both the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI), which regulates veterinary medicine in Ireland, and Veterinary Ireland, which represents the veterinary profession. Speaking ahead of the meeting, the Oireachtas committee chairperson, Fianna Fáil Cork North-West TD Aindrias Moynihan, said: 'Our committee moves focus and welcomes representatives from the Merchants Alliance Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Veterinary Council of Ireland and Veterinary Ireland to examine the impacts of the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act 2023. 'This act aims to update regulations on veterinary medicines, medicated feed, and fertilisers and looks to improve animal health, reduce antimicrobial resistance, and enhance regulatory oversight in the veterinary sector,' Moynihan said. Some of the main issues that will be discussed at the committee this evening include: The National Veterinary Prescription System (NVPS), a database to record veterinary prescriptions, allowing people responsible for animals to purchase medicines from authorised dispensers; Responsible use of antimicrobials, including restrictions on prophylactic use and requirements for metaphylaxis prescriptions; Licensing and enforcement, including new licensing requirements and enforcement measures to ensure compliance. The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food has 14 members, nine TDs and five senators. The membership of the committee is as follows: TDs: Aindrias Moynihan (chairperson) – Cork North-West, Fianna Fáil; William Aird (deputy chairperson) – Laois, Fine Gael; Peter 'Chap' Cleere – Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fáil; Joe Cooney – Clare, Fine Gael; Michael Fitzmaurice – Roscommon-Galway, Independent Ireland; Danny Healy-Rae – Kerry, independent; Martin Kenny – Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Féin; Paul Lawless – Mayo, Aontú; Natasha Newsome Drennan – Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Féin. Senators (all elected from Agricultural Panel): Victor Boyhan – independent; Paraic Brady – Fine Gael; Joanne Collins – Sinn Féin; Paul Daly – Fianna Fáil; Eileen Lynch – Fine Gael.
