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AgVetLink June 2003

SPECIAL ISSUE FOR VETERINARIANS

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Who is responsible for the ACVM Act?

The ACVM Act and all other NZFSA administered legislation, including the Food Act, the Meat Act, the Animal Products Act, the Dairy Industry Act and the Winemakers Act, are now the responsibility of the Minister for Food Safety, Hon Annette King.

In some parts of the ACVM Act, such as section 21 (Decision on Application) and section 28 (Codes of Practice), there is reference to the powers of the Director-General (of MAF) to make decisions or approve. In each of these instances the powers and functions of the Director-General have been delegated to the ACVM Group Director and, in some cases, to members of the ACVM Group.

 

The PAR system – what is happening?

Background

Unlike the Animal Remedies Act, the ACVM Act does not provide for a prescription animal remedy (PAR) system. Under the ACVM Act, the system of PAR classes is set up through conditions imposed when a product is registered. The PAR class reflects the level of risk associated with a product (see page 2).

Use of PARs has been reviewed and adjusted to ensure that management of risk and expectations of New Zealand’s trading partners are met. For example, during the past few years, concerns about the risks of antibiotic resistance have resulted in a significant amount of work to deal with the problem. The ACVM Group has drawn heavily on this work to modify conditions of use for antibiotic products.

Consultation

Consultation with interested and affected parties is ongoing. The current proposed changes to PAR policy have been the subject of consultation with interested parties for nearly a year.

At present, the main consultation regards operational policy. Responses to date cover a wide range of views. Submissions received on the latest draft of the policy are available on the website (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/acvm/archive/draft/policies/index.htm). The ACVM Group is working through the submissions to address concerns raised, and the Compliance Investigation Group (CIG) is carrying out ‘slice of life’ audits:

• to see whether those concerns are valid;
• to determine if the present level of PAR control is appropriate.

Concerns raised over long-term impacts of policy implementation are being considered carefully. The submissions have also shown us that further clarification and explanation of the policy are required.

What is happening?

The operational policy developments being considered at the moment are implementation issues. They don’t imply changes to the ACVM Act or its Regulations.

The ACVM Group is not proposing major changes. We do not wish to impede legitimate veterinary activities such as clinical practice, integrated intensive livestock management, research or specialised services. However, we require adequate management of PARs in all of these activities. Preliminary results of the ‘slice of life’ audits indicate a lack of knowledge of the ACVM Act and responsibilities associated with it. It is obvious that more education and communication are needed.

Prescribing and dispensing

We believe that current practices of prescribing and dispensing make good sense, and one development of the review of the PAR system has been the New Zealand Veterinary Association/ Veterinary Council of NewZealand prescribing code of practice.

This code of practice has been approved and is in place, but we have been advised by specialist veterinarians that it does not adequately cover veterinary activities beyond general clinical practice.

Therefore, a prescribing standard with appropriate PAR management across a wider range of veterinary activity is being developed by the ACVM Group.

There will be no change in the definition of a veterinary consultation because it appears to cover the range of veterinary activities.

Trading

We are recommending a more robust system that takes into account the risks around ‘trading’, which includes distribution, dispensing, and/or sale of PARs.

A standard for trading in veterinary medicines is out for public consultation. The standard will require traders to be approved and registered. (This includes dispensing veterinarians.) There will be a low compliance cost associated with this registration for current traders. Implementation of the trading standard will be phased.

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