The number of different pack sizes for animal health products in NI could reduce by 40% next year, a key industry figure has said.

Bryan Lovegrove from the Animal Health Distributors Association said new postBrexit rules are set to cause significant disruption in the NI market in 2026.

“Up to 40% of pack sizes might not be available and that will create real issues,” he told a House of Lords committee on Wednesday.

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The example was given of a small farmer having to buy a larger volume of wormer than usual, meaning an increased cost, plus more risk of over-use and wormer resistance.

Lovegrove said the new rules from January 2026 will also see the number of wholesalers that supply the NI market reduce from six firms at present to just two in the new year.

“It does create almost a bit of a monopoly and maybe price fixing opportunities for those two wholesalers,” he suggested.

The issue stems from NI needing to follow EU rules on veterinary medicine testing, so products that currently come from Britain are at risk of being withdrawn when a temporary grace period expires at the end of 2025.

Lovegrove pointed out that veterinary practices will be able to import products that are not available in NI under special licences.

But that option will not be available to the likes of farm supply shops and merchants, who are currently responsible for 80% of product sales in NI.

Government figures

Aside from different pack sizes, the latest projections from the UK government indicate that several hundred veterinary medicines will not be available in NI next year.

“Of the 3,000 veterinary medicines currently licenced for supply in NI, their work shows that between 10 to 15% of products will be discontinued,” said Mark Little from the British Veterinary Association.

However, Little said that the UK government’s forecast suggests that “fewer than 20 products” will be discontinued which will result in “significant adverse impacts”.

“In other words, there is no suitable alternative that we can get from somewhere else. We are in the middle of November, but we still don’t know what those products are due to commercial sensitivity,” he said.

Little said that the impact of the new rules will ultimately depend on the “commercial decisions” of animal health companies. Peers were told that some veterinary medicine products are currently being stockpiled in NI, so the full impact of the new regulations will not be felt until later in 2026.