The lack of progress made on the issue of anti-parasitic products has been criticised by a farming organisation – with the January deadline fast approaching.
Hitting out at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) Animal Health and Welfare chair Hugh Farrell said the consultation process on DAFM proposals to restrict availability of anti-parasitic doses has “stalled completely”.
Describing the stalling situation as “just not acceptable”, Farrell said:
“It was April 27, last year, when we last met; now it’s approaching September 1, and we haven’t met since. There’s been no word from anybody and we’re sort of forgotten about.
“The weeks have turned into months and the January 1, date hasn’t moved back – even though they’ve pushed us back over four months,” he said.
Farrell also criticised “how little respect” has been given to farmers as stakeholders in the process.
He called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to intervene and get things moving ahead of the looming deadline.
“This is a serious threat which will potentially destroy competition for basic anti-parasitic products such as wormers.
“After 20 months of intense lobbying activity by merchants, pharmacists, farming associations and politicians, DAFM is still refusing to accept any solutions put forward to avoid burdening livestock farmers with extra costs of securing a vet prescription each time they need to buy wormers, fly control, dips and lice medicines.
“This places the vet in a powerful monopoly position to charge for prescribing, dictating the medicine brand to be used and being on the spot to sell the medicine first hand and cut out the independent merchants and co-op stores.
“Time is running out as these changes become law in January 2022,” he said, noting that there are also concerns in relation to the availability of generic dosing alternatives.
Farrell noted that a report by the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and the Marine strongly advised in all 10 recommendations that the licensed merchants should be able to prescribe alongside vets.
This would “retain farmer choice, competitiveness, swift availability and avoid any clash with supplies from over the border where both vets and independent merchants can prescribe without charge”, the ICSA chairman concluded.