Swann Presses UK and EU on Imminent NI Veterinary Medicines Shortages

In a meeting of the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly this week, Robin Swann MP, the only Northern Ireland Member of Parliament in the Assembly, stressed the pressures facing veterinary medicines as a result of the Windsor Framework. During the meeting Mr Swann stressed:

“We are now looking at a number of crises in the next few weeks in regards to the number of veterinary medicines allowed into Northern Ireland because of the Windsor Framework.

“When we put animal health at risk, we put human health at risk.”

Mr Swann also urged fellow members of the EU-UK PPA to stop using Northern Ireland for political point scoring, he said:

“Too many times, with the contributions that I have heard to date, it is about ‘stop treating the United Kingdom as a third country.’ But I’d like to say to members on both sides of this House, respectively, is to stop treating the people of Northern as political footballs as you pursue your own political agendas whether it’s in the European Parliament or whether it’s in this place.”

In a recent letter to Mr Swann, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) acknowledged that between 10–15% of veterinary medicines authorised in Northern Ireland will be discontinued as a result of the Windsor Framework. The Minister also recognised ongoing concerns around pack sizes, potential cost increases and the remaining uncertainty facing sectors as the end-of-year deadline approaches.

Although DEFRA stated it is “confident” disruption will be limited, the letter also confirms that some sectors may face higher discontinuation rates, that uncertainty will remain “in the lead up to the end of the year,” and that the EU will not allow a human-medicines-style derogation for veterinary products.

Reacting to this, Mr Swann said:

“DEFRA’s own letter makes clear that there will be real-world losses of veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland and that uncertainty will remain right up to the end of the year - the crisis I warned about in the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly.

“The government insists disruption will be ‘limited’, but this does not match the concerns being raised across the veterinary, farming and animal rescue sectors. Northern Ireland cannot be expected rely on temporary schemes pulled together at the last minute. The issues and arguments being raised are an exact copy of what was said of human medicines, so the framework for the solution is there."