9 May 2025
Calls for Government to deliver on EU agreement pledge for UK “strategic priority” area of veterinary medicines.
Allister Webb
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A vet and industry leader has urged the Government to deliver on its pledge of a new veterinary agreement with the EU ahead of a forthcoming summit.
Clinicians are also being encouraged to back the call for action ahead of both next week’s talks and a looming deadline to secure Northern Ireland’s future medicine supplies.
A Defra minister has said the Government would be “careful” to ensure proposals meet manifesto commitments, though he insisted he would not provide a “running commentary” on the talks.
But writing exclusively for Vet Times, NOAH deputy chief executive Donal Murphy argued regulatory co-ordination between the two sides was already vital to ease product access and reduce manufacturers’ costs.
He said member organisations were now reporting examples of key products becoming available in the EU several months before they reached the Great Britain market, despite “minimal” current divergence between the two systems.
Although the problem is thought to be limited now, he warned it was likely to grow without action, adding: “Veterinary medicines must not be seen as a peripheral, technical issue, but recognised as a strategic priority for the UK.”
The group is calling for the development of a specific Veterinary Medicines Agreement between London and Brussels and says it is hopeful the issue will be on the agenda at the 19 May summit.
Dr Murphy said such a deal should enable marketing authorisation holders to be based in either the UK or EU to help ease access to both markets, as well as promoting co-operation on areas including technical requirements, assessment and labelling.
The need for a new agreement is particularly acute in Northern Ireland, where NOAH estimates that up to 15 per cent of currently available medicines may cease to be available at the end of this year without new arrangements being agreed.
But while veterinary sector leaders have repeatedly called for action to address that specific problem, Dr Murphy argued that a broader deal should be sought now at a point where differences between the two sides “can be aligned relatively easily”.
He added: “Doing so would bring tangible benefits for animal health and the economy, support veterinary professionals in their work and ensure that high standards are maintained across the sector. We urge others across the veterinary profession to join us in calling for action ahead of the summit.”
Although Defra had not responded to a request for comment at the time of going to press, ministers have often repeated their pre-election pledge to secure a new “veterinary agreement” with the EU since Labour took power last summer.
But while there has been little sign of progress publicly, farming minister Daniel Zeichner claimed the Government had “reset our relations” with Europe in response to a recent written question.
He said: “We have been clear that an SPS [sanitary and phytosanitary] agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides and will be careful to ensure proposals are consistent with our manifesto and does not cross our red lines.”
