The Federal Council approved the revision of the Veterinary Medicinal Products Ordinance on 3 June 2022. This aims to improve appropriate use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine and ensure the supply of veterinary medicinal products. The revised VMPO enters into force on 1 July 2022.
Sufficient suitable veterinary medicinal products must be available to ensure that sick animals can be treated. This is increasingly difficult as the range of veterinary medicinal products is steadily decreasing and these are almost exclusively manufactured abroad. The revision of the Ordinance simplifies procurement of medicinal products from abroad for veterinarians. They will no longer require a special licence from Swissmedic for this. In countries with comparable veterinary medicinal product control, an electronic notification to the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) is usually sufficient. As the import requirements are unchanged, however, medicinal product and food safety can continue to be ensured.
From 1 July 2022, notifications or applications for the import of veterinary medicinal products should be made to the FSVO. For further information, please visit the FSVO website using the following link: