The Dairy Council for Northern Ireland has welcomed the decision to extend the grace period that will allow veterinary medicines used in NI to continue to be supplied from GB.
The grace period had been due to cease at the end of December, and, in the absence of an agreement between UK and EU, would have made it very difficult, if not impossible for NI veterinary practices to source certain animal medicines.
Commenting on the decision, Dr Mike Johnston MBE, Chief Executive of the Dairy Council said,
“This is a very welcome decision, because without it we were looking at a scenario where certain veterinary medicines and vaccines would not have been available in NI. The consequences of this would have been severe for farmers and their livestock.”
Dr Johnston continued,
“This is the right decision at this time and I would congratulate and thank both UK and EU for recognising the problem and extending the grace period. However, this is only a temporary fix that gives both UK and EU some space to agree the future operation of the Protocol. We are being told by politicians that there is a more positive approach to agreeing solutions for issues around the Protocol, and hopefully this decision is a step towards this wider agreement.”