NI will have fewer vet medicines, MLAs told

There will be fewer animal health products available in NI next year, a committee of MLAs has been warned.

Mark Little from the North of Ireland Veterinary Association (NIVA) said some pharmaceutical firms are planning to stop supplying certain products to NI.

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Three companies have so far provided information about the different products and pack sizes that they plan to provide in NI from 2026 onwards.

“One of them says it is going to continue to supply as normal, so no change,” Little told Stormont’s agriculture committee last week.

However, another firm has indicated that it will reduce its range by 30% and a third company plans to cut 40% of its products from the NI market.

“These are products that they are going to either discontinue or skew stock keeping units. For example, if something comes in a half litre, one litre, 2.5 litre, and five litre packs, they will drop off certain sizes,” he said.

The issue stems from NI needing to follow EU regulations on veterinary medicines as part of post Brexit trade arrangements.

It means products that currently come from Britain are at risk of being withdrawn from the NI market when a temporary grace period expires at the end of 2025.

Little explained that the new rules require pharmaceutical firms to have an address in either NI or the EU to supply the NI market from next year.

Another factor is that any animal health products that come from or are transported through Britain need to be batch tested before entering NI.

Kirsten Dunbar from NIVA suggested that stock piling of certain products could be taking place in NI at present, ahead of the 31 December 2025 deadline.

“The most frequently used GB products may continue to be in stock in NI for a number of months and it may not actually come to head until later in 2026,” she said.

Dunbar also appeared unconvinced by two schemes which have been developed to allow veterinary products to be imported into NI if there are shortages.

“It has been designed to deal with small numbers of requests, so we are uncertain as to how that’s going to work,” she said.