NOAH welcomes recognition of Northern Ireland Protocol veterinary medicines supply concerns
17th December 2021
NOAH welcomes extension of current Northern Ireland Protocol measures for veterinary medicines announced by the EU Commission today, which will help provide some certainty for the NI market in the short term with existing arrangements remaining in place until the end of 2022.
While the bespoke arrangement for the regulatory requirements and supply of medicines to NI announced by the Commission today covers only human medicines, NOAH is pleased to see the need to look at concerns over continuity of supply of veterinary medicines has been acknowledged and the continuation of the current standstill arrangements in respect of our sector until the end of 2022 to ensure supply of veterinary medicines can continue unhindered.
The Commission has announced that discussions on veterinary medicines will continue over the coming months, to gather information, identify any outstanding implementation issues and find the most appropriate way forward to ensure long-term continuity of veterinary medicines supply to Northern Ireland, as well as Cyprus, Ireland and Malta.
Welcoming this, NOAH Chief Executive Dawn Howard said: “Following representations from both NOAH and AnimalhealthEurope over the past months we are pleased to see that our concerns on the potential impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol have been recognised and look forward to continued collaboration to help develop a practical solution.
“Our industry, along with the VMD, has worked hard to identify concerns and has put forward potential solutions. Business needs certainty to plan, and the extension of current arrangements will help secure continuity of supply in Northern Ireland over the next year, as discussions continue to agree a long-term solution to the problems the NIP poses for our sector.”
Notes for Editors
For more information please contact Alison Glennon glennon@noah.co.uk or Donal Murphy d.murphy@noah.co.uk
NOAH represents the UK animal health industry. It promotes the benefits of safe, effective, quality products and services for the health and welfare of all animals.
AnimalhealthEurope is the association representing manufacturers of animal medicines, vaccines and other animal health products in Europe.
The European Commission medicines statement is here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_21_6943
The UK announcement is https://www.gov.uk/government/news/lord-frost-statement-on-the-protocol-on-irelandnorthern-ireland-17-december-2021–2