The Supply of Relevant Veterinary Medicinal Products Order 2005 came into force today. The Order implements the recommendations of the Competition Commission in their 2003 report on the supply of prescription-only medicines for veterinary use (POMs).

The Order requires:

• veterinary surgeons not to charge for writing prescriptions for three years;

• manufacturers of relevant veterinary medicinal products to provide veterinary surgeons and pharmacists with information about the prices of relevant veterinary medicinal products; and

• veterinary manufacturers and wholesalers to supply relevant veterinary medicinal products to pharmacies and veterinary surgeons on the same terms for the same volumes supplied over the same time period.

7 October 2005

The Supply of Relevant Veterinary Medicinal Products Order 2005 (SI 2005 no. 2751) was laid before Parliament on 7 October. The Order is available from the OPSI website. A Regulatory Impact Assessment is available here.

Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Revised Guidance for Veterinary Surgeons and for veterinary manufacturers and wholesalers is now available

Guidance for veterinary surgeons (10 pages).
Guidance for veterinary manufacturers and wholesalers (12 pages).

25 August 2005

The Government published its response to the consultation on the draft Order

Government response (10 pages).

In particular, the response accepts the proposal from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons that the majority of provisions that were subject to consultation can be implemented through amendments to the RCVS Guide to Professional Conduct.

Useful Links:

Veterinary Medicines Directorate - responsible for proposed Veterinary Medicines Regulations: www.vmd.gov.uk/
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons: www.rcvs.org.uk/

February 2005

The Government issued a consultation document concerning an Order which the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry intends to make in relation to the supply of POMs within the UK.

Consultation Document.
DTI Press Notice.

Background

The Competition Commission's report was published on 11 April 2003. The Commission found that three complex monopoly situations existed in relation to POMs.

The first complex monopoly situation involves veterinary surgeons engaged in one or more of the following conducts:

(a) failure to inform animal owners that they can ask for prescriptions, or discouraging requests for prescriptions, or declining to provide prescriptions on request;

(b) failure to inform clients of the price of POMs prior to dispensing them, or to provide itemised bills; and

(c) pricing of POMs which does not reflect their cost of supply.

The second complex monopoly situation arises from the failure of eight manufacturers to enable pharmacies to obtain supplies of POMs on terms which would enable them to compete with veterinary surgeons.

The third complex monopoly situation arises from the failure of all the veterinary wholesalers to take reasonable steps to market to pharmacies and supply them with POMs, so that they can compete with veterinary surgeons.

The Government reviewed and accepted the Commission’s findings when the report was published.

DTI Press Notice of April 2003 announcing Publication of Report.
OFT Press Release of 9 October 2002 covering original referral to Competition Commission.

Contacts