The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has launched a consultation on proposals to change the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR) for importing, batch testing, and batch release of veterinary medicines.
These proposals would apply to Great Britain and their aim, the VMD said, is to reduce “unnecessary regulatory burdens on industry”.
The consultation will run for four weeks until the closing date of June 15.
Veterinary medicines
Batch testing is the process that every veterinary medicine must go through to confirm it has the correct composition. It helps to ensure that medicines are high quality and have the desired therapeutic effect.
This consultation proposes recognising the batch testing and batch release of veterinary medicines in countries with equivalent regulatory standards, therefore eliminating the need for repeat batch testing and release when imported into Great Britain.
VMD head of inspections and enforcement division, John Millward, said: “I am pleased to see the launch of this consultation, which focuses on very important requirements of our legislation.
“We have listened to the views of our stakeholders over the last few years and we believe the resulting proposals balance their views, which are to reduce regulatory burden and enable them to cost-effectively import and release veterinary medicines with our responsibility to appropriately regulate those products being placed on the Great Britain market.”
This consultation relates to Great Britain only as the current arrangements for batch testing and release for products supplied to Northern Ireland, set out in the Windsor Framework, will continue through to 2025.
The public can share their views on the proposals directly through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Citizen Space.
