NOAH requests urgent meeting with MAFF Ministers on OP dips
The National Office of Animal Health has requested MAFF to call an
urgent meeting on OP dips. Backed
by veterinary and farming organisations, NOAH has argued that the OP dip recall, due to be completed by the end of January,
should be suspended while all involved agree how the transition to repackaged products can
be better managed.
NOAH has grave concerns over MAFF’s
surprise announcement on 20 December to suspend OP dip
licences and recall the products for repackaging.
Veterinary and farming organisations at
the heart of British sheep farming have endorsed NOAH’s letter, which points out
the serious consequences of MAFF’s action for animal health and welfare, disease
control, environmental pollution and the economics of sheep farming in the UK.
In the letter to Baroness Hayman, NOAH director Roger Cook says of the
recall: "We question the need for this to be done by 31 January. As the main dipping
season will not commence until April, 3 months notice would have allowed all concerned
proper time to discuss and agree a plan of action.
"Companies have also been reminded that they have 3 months in
which to appeal against their licence suspensions - will MAFF compensate companies if
their appeals are upheld after the products are withdrawn?
"Logic would indicate that the deadline for collection should be
moved to 31 March to allow proper time for dialogue and, for those companies who wish, to
appeal," he added. Nevertheless, NOAH is in the meantime advising farmers of how to
comply with the recall procedure as announced.
"We agree that filling or replenishing the dip bath is potentially
the most hazardous task in the dipping operation. It has been known for decades that
contact with the concentrate was the most likely cause of OP
poisoning. For this reason dip labels have, for over twenty years, contained
advice on the use of extra protective clothing ‘when handling the concentrate’.
In this respect the Institute of Occupational Medicine report said nothing new.
However, while agreeing with the theory, Mr Cook noted that the number
of reported adverse reactions linked to contact with the concentrate were very low.
"This would appear to indicate that farmers are conscious of the dangers and are
taking precautions, thus demonstrating that the Certificate of Competence and other
education methods are working," he said. "This panic action is totally
unjustified," said Mr Cook.
"The VPC Report does recommend ‘more caution’ in the
handling of concentrated dip. We would suggest that the 40 000 copies of new ‘plain
language’ advice, issued in November in the form of the laminated notice, goes a long
way to achieve this," he added.
Logic would therefore indicate that there is no specific need to
suspend the current packaging on operator safety grounds.
In the long-term, if OP dips are lost,
there would be sheep welfare consequences, with sheep scab now endemic throughout Great
Britain, and OP dips, with their wide-ranging action,
currently providing the treatment of choice for many farmers (accounting for 50% sheep
ectoparasiticide sales). Their removal will force a greater reliance on the remaining scab
treatments, developed by the industry as alternatives, and a likely acceleration in the
spread of resistance.
NOAH has welcomed the fact that MAFF has made no criticism of the
active ingredients themselves, and the Ministry has expressed belief that OP dips in new packaging will be back on the market in time
for the next dipping season. MAFF’s confidence and support is welcomed, but, NOAH
believes, its optimism on timing seems misplaced.
The stability testing necessary for new packaging means that a minimum
development time of 6 months is needed. Companies are going to have to make a massive
investment of time and money - and a year before OP dips
are back on the shelves is perhaps a more realistic estimate. "And they cannot even
begin this process yet, because they are still waiting to hear exactly what is required of
them," added Mr Cook.
12 January 2000
Notes for Editors
- For further information contact Roger Cook or Alison Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)20 8367 3131,
or visit the NOAH website.
- 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 36 corporate members and 11
associate members. In 1998 NOAH's members accounted for
around 95% of the £384 million UK animal health market, with additional valuable exports.
- NOAH’s letter to Baroness Hayman has been approved by the Animal Health Distributors Association,
British Veterinary Association, National Farmers Union, National Farmers
Union of Scotland, and National
Sheep Association.
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