New guidelines from the Veterinary Council of Ireland are “a blatant attempt to stifle competition in the provision of veterinary services”.
That’s according to Pat Farrell, chairman of the Irish Farmers’ Association’s Animal Health Committee, who added that the guidelines are “a gross interference” in competitive vet services.
Farrell claimed that the council’s new rules won’t be consistent with coming legislation for prescribing medicines.
He went on to say that attempts to justify these guidelines, in the context of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), is misleading, and ignores concerns of “vested economic interests of prescribers” in supplying products.
The Department of Agriculture and all other stakeholders are proactively engaged in a collaborative process to address AMR concerns and are making significant progress. This process has been ignored and undermined by the Veterinary Council document.
A new set of rules from the EU, the Veterinary Medical Products Regulation, is at an “advanced stage”, according to Farrell, and will outline its own guidelines for prescribing veterinary products, including a distinction between antimicrobial products and more standard products, such as vaccines.
These regulations will be discussed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as well as various stakeholders over the next few months, and will result in new legislation regarding prescriptions.
“It is incumbent on the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed that farmers are allowed to access a competitive and large animal veterinary service, and that they are facilitated in acquiring the relevant expertise for their farm,” said Farrell.
He concluded by urging the minister to investigate the issue calling it an interference with open market competition in providing services to farmers.