NOAH welcomes new Code of Practice for Responsible Use of Animal Medicines on Farms

The National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) welcomes the launch today of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's 'Code of Practice on the Responsible Use of Animal Medicines on Farms'. The Code has been endorsed by NOAH, along with 21 other key organisations and professional associations involved in the manufacture, distribution and use of animal medicines.

NOAH director, Roger Cook, said: "It is very much in the interests of manufacturers of animal medicines that the medicines they produce are used responsibly. Before an animal medicine is authorised for the market, it has to satisfy very stringent requirements on its safety, quality and efficacy. Every last detail on its use has to be approved by the Licensing Authorities, and it must be used in accordance with the information on the label, or veterinary surgeon instructions. All the hard work and expense needed to generate the information could end up wasted: if a medicine has not, for example, been stored or administered in the correct way, it might not be as effective."

The guidelines have been produced to offer clear and straightforward advice for anyone using animal medicines on farms. They update the code produced in 1986 by MAFF, and that which appears in the front of the 'Animal Medicines Record Book' produced jointly by NOAH and the Animal Health Distributors Association, AHDA.

"This information should not be new to the farmers: it builds on information that NOAH and others have been giving for years. This update is a most welcome reminder of all the general principles of responsible animal medicine use. Well done VMD," applauded Mr Cook.

29 April 1999

Notes for Editors

1. For further information contact Roger Cook or Alison Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)20 8367 3131, or visit the NOAH website.

2. The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent the UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products. The association has 34 corporate members and 10 associate members. In 1998 NOAH's members accounted for around 95% of the £384 million UK animal health market, with additional valuable exports.

3. The booklet Code of Practice for the Responsible Use of Animal Medicines on Farms is available VMD on request from: VMD, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3LS or telephone: (01932) 336911; website http://www.vmd.gov.uk/

4. The supporting organisations are: Animal Health Distributors Association (AHDA); Animal Medicines Training and Regulatory Authority (AMTRA); Association of Wholesalers to the Veterinary Profession (AWP); British Association of Feed Supplement and Additive Manufacturers (BAFSAM); British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA); British Goat Society; British Trout Association; British Veterinary Association (BVA); Co-Op; Fish Veterinary Society; Institute of Food Science and Technology (UK) (IFST); Lion Quality; National Farmers' Union (NFU); National Farmers' Union of Scotland; North of Ireland Veterinary Association; NOAH; the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland; Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS); Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB); Veterinary Defence Society (VDS); Women's Food and Farming Union (WFU); West of Scotland Water.