Veterinary Medicines: Northern Ireland
Debate between Emma Hardy and Jim Allister(3 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Emma Hardy
I thank the right hon. Member. He will recognise that it is important for the UK to be legally compliant with all of our international agreements. We take seriously the Windsor framework and the rules that it gave our country. I would not want to be part of a Government who disregard international agreements, but I completely understand his concerns around veterinary medicines.
We expect 10% to 15% of currently licensed veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland to be discontinued, but most are either dormant and not sold in Northern Ireland or have multiple alternatives available. We have analysed each discontinuation against multiple criteria to determine the position. However, we appreciate we can never have perfect data and that situations change. That is why we have also announced the veterinary medicines internal market scheme and the veterinary medicine health situation scheme: to help to address any gaps, should they arise.
The veterinary medicines internal market scheme removes administrative burdens from vets moving medicine that are not vaccines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland when, in their clinical judgment, that is needed. It is based on the existing cascade procedure, with which vets are very familiar. These simplifications allow the scheme to be as responsible as possible when managing supply issues.
The veterinary medicine health situation scheme allows the Government to temporarily authorise an alternative medicine when a discontinuation is expected to lead to a health situation. It is designed to provide a dedicated supply mechanism to address supply issues, should they arise.
Jim Allister
Sadly, we live under EU law, and the EU law that governs these matters says that only where there is exceptional breakdown can there be alternative arrangements. Have the Government obtained permission from their EU masters for the two schemes to which the Minister refers? According to the Government, they are going to be routine, rather than for exceptional breakdowns.
Emma Hardy
I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman; of course, I reject the phrase “EU masters”. These schemes are really important to make sure that the vets or those who require the medicine have the medicine that they need in Northern Ireland.
I want to take this opportunity to make a few further remarks about our assessment on discontinuations. In June, the Government said that “fewer than 20 products” are expected to be discontinued where there was risk of “significant adverse impacts” if not addressed through our schemes. I am pleased to announce that further analysis has reduced that figure to six. Following extensive engagement and detailed analysis, we are now satisfied that none of these discontinuations would lead to a health situation or other significant adverse impacts.
In some cases, the products will no longer be discontinued; in others, there are sufficient alternatives available in Northern Ireland or from the EU. However, we will of course continue to monitor the list and any new discontinuations, and we welcome stakeholder feedback. On divergence, the veterinary medicines regulations for Great Britain were updated in 2024 to reflect the comparable EU regulations 2019/6 and 2019/4, thereby basically bringing Great Britain and Northern Ireland into closer alignment.
These are the regulations that will apply in Northern Ireland from the end of the grace period. Divergence between Great Britain and Northern Ireland veterinary medicine regulation is minimal, and is something that the Veterinary Medicines Directorate monitors closely in considering where alignment may be beneficial.
I will now address some of the other concerns raised. We have heard that stakeholders are concerned about insufficient pack sizes being available and about that leading to cost increases and issues with dispensing veterinary medicines. However, based on our extensive engagement, we have no evidence that pack size changes are a systematic issue. Where pack size changes occur, we expect the most popular sizes to remain, but of course, if the situation changes or if new evidence comes to light, we will look to use the schemes we have in place.
More broadly on costs, we have had positive reassurance from a number of pharmaceutical companies that they will not increase prices, but we will closely monitor the situation into 2026.