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AgVetLink December 2003

What’s coming up

• The ACVM Group offices will be closed for the Christmas break from Tuesday, 23 December 2003, until Monday, 5 January 2004. It is likely that the office will not be fully staffed for the first few weeks of 2004 because we are encouraging staff to take longer leave periods in light of the expected influx of work later in the year.
• AVMAC meeting dates have been set for the coming year. The next meeting will be 19 February, followed by meetings on 20 May 2004, 19 August 2004 and 18 November 2004.
• ILG (Industry Liaison Group) meeting dates have also been set for 2004. They are timed to fit with AVMAC meetings because of the membership overlap. The next two meetings will be 19 February and 19 August 2004.
• Antibiotic resistance – update of sales information The update of the Regulatory Control of Antibiotics to Manage Antibiotic Resistance progress report will be published on the ACVM website in December 2003. The report covers sales of products for the calendar year 2002, which is the third year information has been collected.
• The ACVM Group has a further meeting planned in December with the Veterinary Council of New Zealand to progress the development of a memorandum of understanding covering compliance and monitoring, investigations and enforcement, and standards development in areas of mutual interest.
• The ACVM Group is preparing a response to the NZIER (New Zealand Institute of Economic Research) report commissioned by the New Zealand Veterinary Association. Risk Review: ACVM Standard for Trading in Prescription Animal Remedies was tabled at the recent AVMAC meeting and is based on the June 2003 version of the standard. While the ACVM Group considers it is a good summary of potential risks (almost all of which have previously been raised in the submission process), we believe that the relevant concerns have been dealt with in the subsequent revision of the standard or in plans for implementation. The ACVM Group response should be available prior to the Christmas break and will be made available via the website.