Following the signing of new veterinary medicine rules, both the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish Creamery Milk Supplier Association (ICMSA) have called for the law to be “reviewed”.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue signed the law, which provides for tighter controls around the use of antiparasitic medications. This includes the upregulation of all antiparasitics to prescription-only medicine (POM) status.
IFA animal health chair TJ Maher said the new law “is a missed opportunity” to broaden the supply base for farmers in sourcing vaccines that are categorised as POM status.
He said that the products have always been available only through veterinary pharmacies and vets, without the need for a prescription.
The IFA had proposed that availability of products could be broadened to include licensed merchants and co-ops, which could supply to farmers under prescription.
“Vaccines are key management tools for farmers and are critical in reducing the need for antibiotics and must be more competitively available to farmers,” Maher said.
Maher added that the IFA had sought the removal of VAT on vaccines which he said would “save farmers” over €10 million annually.
Medicine costs
Deputy President of ICMSA, Eamon Carroll, said that the changes in the law will “add to farmer costs” at a time when input prices are high.
Carroll said that ICMSA had long called for antiparasitics to be available through licenced merchants, pharmacies and co-ops.
“Every time the government has a chance to either give farmers a small break or load another expense on them, they choose the latter.
“What’s even more infuriating on this issue is that there’s no compelling reason to think that this will help towards better animal health or that there was any outstanding abuse of anti-parasitic medicines,” Carroll said.
He said that farmers are “tired of being treated as ‘cash-dispensers’ by professionals ” and called for the instrument to be reviewed.
Meanwhile, Maher said that while the instrument has been signed, that there are a “number of issues” yet to be addressed with the National Veterinary Prescription System (NVPS) before it can come into force.
Maher advised that in the meantime farmers can continue to source antiparsitic products from licensed merchants and co-ops without a prescription.