Legal controls on veterinary medicines

The Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR) 2013 (Statutory Instrument (SI) 2033), as amended, will remain in force for the regulation of veterinary medicines in the UK beyond the end of the transition period.

The Northern Ireland Protocol (the Protocol) provides for NI to remain subject to EU legislation. To ensure effective implementation of the Protocol, the VMR will be amended to provide, in effect, 2 sets of VMR having effect in GB and NI, respectively. These amendments will take effect from 1 January 2021.

Whilst the GB and NI VMR will remain similar, we have given details on the differences within the Information Hub explainers.

We will update this section with more information on the GB and NI VMR as it becomes available.

See Veterinary Medicines Regulations guidance for a full list of current UK and EU regulations that apply.

Future Veterinary Medicines Regulations

We have in place continued recognition for the sites of certain regulatory functions carried out in the EU for batches placed on to the market until January 2023. These are described within the Information Hub explainers.

Many of the requirements beyond this will be included in the new VMR, which are planned to come into effect in 2022. The proposed changes to the VMR will be subject to formal, public consultation, giving industry the opportunity to comment. It is anticipated that this consultation will not take place before the Spring of 2021.

Future agreements with other countries

Beyond the UK and EU Transition our main objective remains to seek agreements with other countries, including the EU, that benefit veterinary medicine industries in our respective countries. Such reciprocal agreements may be via free trade agreements (FTAs) or mutual recognition agreements (MRAs).