Veterinary medicinal products: availability

The committee adopted the report by Avril DOYLE (EPP-ED, IRL) on the Commission communication. The committee called for urgent measures to tackle the shortage of veterinary medicines, saying that the situation had reached crisis level with serious consequences for animal health and welfare. The shortage of local anaesthetics, in particular, was creating "unacceptable situations". The committee backed the short-term measures announced by the Commission to make more drugs available and called, in the longer term, for a pan-European licensing system to enable veterinary medicines to move more freely between Member States. It also wanted the use of substances without MRLs to be allowed for horses.�