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AgVetLink February 2004: Page 5

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Ministry of Health/ACVM Group meetings

The Medicines Act 1981 and Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 are extremely prescriptive with respect to who may prescribe and use human prescription medicines and controlled substances.

Veterinarians are able to prescribe and use human medicines and controlled drugs in the treatment of animals by way of specific exemption written into these pieces of legislation. It should be noted, however, that the exemption applies only from the provisions of the Medicines and Misuse of Drugs Acts.

As soon as any substance is used in the direct management of an animal it becomes a veterinary medicine and is subject to the requirements of the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Act 1997.

The ACVM Act requires that the ACVM Group obtain Ministry of Health approval before any prescription human medicine is registered as a veterinary medicine. This can be a complicated process and can require a great deal of information transfer because of the significant differences in medicine use patterns between human and animal health programmes. It is recognised that a close working relationship is required between the Ministry of Health and the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Group to ensure that the work conducted by the independent Groups is complementary.

In consequence, regular liaison meetings are now held between members from Medsafe and the ACVM Group. Issues discussed to date include:

• antibiotic resistance management principles;
• compounding and repackaging; and
• the current PAR status of veterinary medicines with the potential for diversion to human use/abuse.

Exemption of compounds from the MRL standards

As indicated in the October AgVetLink, the NZFSA has developed a policy for exempting compounds from the MRL standards. It is expected that the exemption for 9,10-anthraquinone will now proceed.

Several other exemptions are expected to proceed in the near future. Below is the finalised version of the new process that substances must go through in order to be considered for exemption.