The business and use of veterinary drugs is still "hot"

- Recently, there have been many concerns related to the issue of trading veterinary drugs in Hanoi. Could you tell us about the current status of the veterinary medicine business system?

- Currently, there are 692 veterinary medicine businesses in Hanoi. The Hanoi Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine has carried out a survey of veterinary medicine businesses to assess the current state of operations, propose solutions to improve management efficiency, and ensure compliance with legal regulations.

Basically, veterinary medicine businesses in the city have been disseminated with relevant regulations including: Veterinary Law 2015; Decree 35/2016/ND-CP dated May 15, 2016 of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Veterinary Law; Circulars of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the management of veterinary drugs, regulating the list of veterinary drugs permitted for circulation and prohibited for use in Vietnam...

This is the basis for competent authorities to manage and guide the business of veterinary drugs according to the provisions of law; at the same time, it is also the basis for handling violations in this field.

- Could you provide more specific information about the issues raised through the actual inspection of veterinary drug stores in the area?

- Actual inspections in the area show that there are still many veterinary drug businesses that have not strictly complied with the provisions of the law such as: Not having enough separate areas to trade veterinary drugs; storing veterinary drugs with animal feed, food, and food for humans; not having thermometers to monitor, not having a place to store and the place to sell drugs does not maintain the temperature below 30°C... The labeling of some veterinary drug import establishments for distribution to the market has not been carried out in accordance with the law. Many places have warehouses to store drugs but lack the necessary equipment...

The number of veterinary drugs on the list of permitted use in Vietnam is too large, currently there are up to 12,501 products registered for circulation. Meanwhile, many people participating in the veterinary drug business have not fully understood the legal regulations. Not to mention, most stores have not opened books to monitor or have not arranged them properly - antibiotics are mixed with chemicals or supplements. In particular, there are still some stores selling chemicals and antibiotics on the list of banned and restricted use...

- In your opinion, how is the current use of veterinary drugs (vaccines, antibiotics...) by livestock farmers?

- Large farms and livestock enterprises have veterinary staff to monitor the growth and development of livestock to vaccinate and use disease prevention drugs according to standards. However, in small-scale livestock households, the use of veterinary drugs does not follow the guiding principles such as: Right disease, right method, right dosage... Through research from livestock households, antibiotics are mostly used for the purpose of disease prevention and treatment for livestock and poultry; but there are cases where farmers use antibiotics mixed with animal feed in a certain ratio not to treat diseases but to stimulate growth for livestock. Not to mention some livestock farmers buy their own medicine to inject into their livestock even though they do not have specialized knowledge in this field... Therefore, veterinary medicine management is very difficult.

Small-scale livestock farming in Hanoi still accounts for 60%, while training, propaganda, and dissemination of knowledge on disease prevention and control for livestock farmers are still limited, leading to the situation where most livestock farmers use antibiotics arbitrarily, paying little attention to the manufacturer's instructions. The situation of using "three no's" antibiotics (wrong disease, wrong dosage, wrong route) is quite common, directly affecting the economy of livestock farmers due to the high cost of purchasing drugs; products with high antibiotic residues are difficult to consume...

Strengthen inspection, tighten management  

- From the above issues, can you tell us what solutions the Capital's Agriculture Department will implement in the coming time to strictly manage veterinary medicine businesses?

- First of all, according to the Law on Veterinary Medicine, veterinary medicine is a conditional business item, so business establishments in this field must ensure adequate facilities and the business owner must have a degree in animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, aquaculture or higher.

Implementing the Law on Veterinary Medicine, based on the provisions on the above conditions, the Hanoi Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine has proactively developed a plan to coordinate with local authorities to organize 100% of owners of veterinary medicine business establishments in the city to sign a commitment not to trade or trade in drugs not on the permitted list; banned substances; yellow substances; regularly review, evaluate and classify veterinary medicine business establishments in accordance with the provisions of law.

In the coming time, the functional units of the agricultural sector will further strengthen the inspection, control, and tighten the management of veterinary medicine business activities, contributing to detecting, preventing, and thoroughly handling the use of banned substances and the abuse of antibiotics in livestock farming, moving towards controlling additives and preservatives in agricultural products and food in the area.

On the other hand, from the actual inspection of veterinary drug business establishments, if the establishment does not meet the requirements, the competent authority will guide the establishment owner to complete the administrative procedures related to the business and require these establishments to stop operating until the procedures are completed according to regulations; at the same time, propagate for veterinary drug retail establishments to strive to meet good practice standards (GMP)...

- In reality, along with the strict management of veterinary drug business establishments, limiting the abuse of antibiotics in livestock farming is of particular importance. In the coming time, how will the competent authorities of the Capital Agriculture Department handle this issue, sir?

- Preventing the abuse of antibiotics in livestock farming is a difficult and complicated process. Specialized agencies cannot comprehensively cover and regularly control the business and use of antibiotics.

To limit the abuse of antibiotics in livestock farming, the Department of Agriculture will coordinate with localities to do better in training and propaganda so that when using drugs to prevent and treat diseases for livestock, livestock farmers strictly follow the instructions on the drug label and the instructions of the manufacturing facility; at the same time, actively propagate the harmful effects of using drugs in violation of regulations and maintain the announcement of the list of veterinary drugs allowed to circulate, restricted use, and prohibited use according to the provisions of law.

Along with that, the Department of Agriculture will strengthen solutions to promote livestock farming by using biological products and herbs to improve resistance and prevent diseases for livestock; at the same time, replicate biosafety livestock farming models, ensure disease safety for livestock and poultry... thereby contributing to environmental protection and stable and sustainable development of Hanoi's livestock industry...

- Sincerely thank you!

According to Hanoimoi.com.vn