Veterinary drugs remain under BAI diction

MANILA, Philippines — Livestock and poultry raisers expressed relief after the resolution of a long-drawn uncertainty over which agency and standards will regulate the registration and use of veterinary drugs and biologics.

Last February 17, the DA issued Memorandum Circular 1s. 2021 laying down the Bureau of Animal Industry’s continued jurisdiction over these non-prescribed veterinary products.

In a statement, the Philippine Veterinary Drug Association (PVDA) lauded the decision of the Department of Agriculture to retain the regulation over the importation of veterinary drugs and animal feed ingredients.

This comes after such authority was almost given back to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which had not much time to regulate the agricultural inputs as its hands were full due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since July last year, the industry had remained in limbo with plans of the FDA taking over the regulation of veterinary drugs and biologics under the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009.

After months of engagement, the agencies and stakeholders involved were able to finally put the jurisdiction tussle to rest, largely retaining BAI’s oversight and regulation over non-prescribed veterinary products.

“This ensures that animal health standards will remain as the regulatory standard when such products are issued rather than human health standards, which are more stringent and, if applied have major implications on the timeliness of regulatory approvals for much-needed products by the livestock and poultry sectors,” the PVDA said.

The Association also hopes that this development is a sign that with proper multi-stakeholder engagement and dialogue, the agriculture sector can make great strides in turning it into a key pillar of the country’s economic strength.

“We thank the leadership of the DA, DOH, BAI and FDA for their proactive involvement of industry players in resolving this issue. This latest resolution is proof that through transparent and participatory multi-stakeholder engagement, industry challenges can be overcome,” the PVDA said.

The DA shares the optimism of industry and vows to enable the sector’s success through ease of doing business commitment and allocating resources for efficient regulatory processing at BAI.

“The resolution of a long-standing issue on the jurisdiction of BAI over veterinary drugs and biologics comes to show the power of what strong industry-government partnership can do. We are happy to finally put to rest this issue of 30-plus years,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar.