February 10, 2021 9:13 am
The Independent Licensed Merchants Association (ILMA), which represents licensed merchants in Ireland, has appointed Ian Scott as its new secretary general.
Scott was the secretary general of the UK’s Animal Health Distributors Association (AHDA) for nine years.
In addition, he has been a board member of Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS), and director for Animal Medicines Training Regulatory Association (AMTRA) and Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA).
According to the ILMA, Scott “successfully fought for the rights of the specially qualified professional in the UK to continue prescribing anti-parasitic veterinary medicines”.
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ILMA, with “substantial” political support, says that it is now legally challenging the Department of Agriculture’s interpretation of a new EU regulation that could force all farmers to pay for a vet prescription before buying essential anti-parasitic medicines such as wormer
\ Philip Doyle
While the NI protocol within the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement means that NI will effectively be part of the EU regulatory zone, we will not be mirroring changes proposed south of the Irish border in how dosing products are prescribed.
From January 2022, new EU rules on fluke drenches and wormers are likely to mean that farmers in the Republic of Ireland will require a prescription from a vet before making a purchase.
However, while it might be expected that NI would have to do the same, Bryan Lovegrove from the UK Animal Health Distributors Association (AHDA) has highlighted that is not the case.