The Government has accepted many of the findings of the recent House of Lords inquiry into flea and tic medication, but has stopped short of recommending any changes to the law at this stage.
In its official response to the recent report by the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, the Government said it would wait for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) to conclude its ongoing regulatory review of the distribution categories for veterinary medicines containing fipronil or imidacloprid before considering any changes to permitted sales channels for medication products.
The response said: “It would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome of this evidence-gathering process, or to state at this stage whether the Government agrees that all PPMs should be supplied through NFA-VPS or other advice-based channels.
“Decisions on distribution categories must be evidence-based, proportionate, and take account of the full range of potential benefits, risks and wider impacts. Any regulatory change should be supported by evidence demonstrating a clear and tangible benefit in addressing the environmental concerns identified, while also ensuring that wider impacts are fully understood and appropriately considered.
“The Committee’s findings and recommendations, including those relating to advice-based supply and online sales, will be carefully considered as part of the ongoing regulatory review. Any future regulatory decisions will be informed by the available scientific evidence and consultation with relevant stakeholders, while continuing to balance environmental protection with animal health, human health and animal welfare.”
A summary of responses to the VMD study is expected to be published later this month.
The Government rejected the Committee’s recommendation that guidance on product packaging should extend the period where pets should not be allowed to bathe after treatment from four days to 28 days, saying that this would not be “an appropriate or proportionate regulatory response at this time”, but accepted the five other key conclusions of the report. These included greater transparency of sales and usage data of parasite medications, a broader evidence base for potential environmental contamination, improved risk assessments for current and new medications and a review of governance arrangements of the VMD and the pharmaceutical industry.
Baroness Sheehan, chair of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee responded: “We welcome the Government’s response to our report and for accepting the vast majority of our recommendations.
However, it is disappointing that they have rejected our calls to extend the period where pets should not be allowed to bathe from four days to 28 days after spot on treatments are applied and ensure that the restrictions on bathing are clearly and visually present on relevant product packaging.
“Pet owners deserve accurate evidence-based guidance on the need for, and risks of, the existing and new chemicals which are being sold and the impact they are having on their pets, home and the environment.
“We look forward to raising this issue with the Minister when we debate the report in the near future.”
