Brussels, 04/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption, on Thursday in Brussels, of the report by Avril Doyle (EPP-ED, Ireland), the European Parliament approved the broad lines of the European Commission communication that highlights the problem of availability of veterinary medicines. The Parliament considers that the shortage of veterinary medicines has brought about a crisis entailing "grave consequences for the health and well-being of animals". It states in particular that the shortage of local anaesthetics gives rise to "unacceptable situations".
Criticism is made of the fact that the shortage is caused by the provisions on Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) (the maximum concentration of residues resulting form the use of veterinary medicines that can be tolerated in animal feed). Withdrawal from the market, on 1 January 2001, of all veterinary medicines for which no MRL has been defined has only made the situation worse, says the EP. The latter supports the short term measures announced by the Commission (definition of MRL by extrapolation) and calls, in the longer term, for a pan-European licensing system to be set in place for better movement of veterinary medicines and an authorisation to administer horse medicines that do not contain MRl.