Guidance

Veterinary Services Market Investigation Order 2026 and Veterinary Services Market Investigation Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Undertakings 2026

This Order places requirements on veterinary businesses to remove barriers to competition and improve transparency for pet owners.

• From: Competition and Markets Authority
• Published: 22 September 2026

Documents

Notice of making an Order

PDF, 229 KB, 4 pages

Veterinary Services Market Investigation Order 2026

PDF, 579 KB, 58 pages

Schedule 1: Price list schedule

PDF, 103 KB, 2 pages

Schedule 2: Standard written prescription notice

PDF, 172 KB, 2 pages

Schedule 3: Standard flyer for ongoing medication

PDF, 171 KB, 2 pages

Schedule 4: Complaint log

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 22.4 KB

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

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If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Explanatory note to the Order

PDF, 627 KB, 58 pages

Annex 1: Indicative price list

PDF, 259 KB, 5 pages

Annex 2: Pet Care Plans illustrative example

PDF, 262 KB, 2 pages

Notice of accepting Undertakings

PDF, 215 KB, 4 pages

Veterinary Services Market Investigation Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Undertakings 2026

PDF, 212 KB, 19 pages

RCVS monitoring proposal

PDF, 209 KB, 4 pages

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Annex: RCVS monitoring flowchart

PDF, 117 KB, 2 pages

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Details

The Order and Undertakings follow the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) market investigation into veterinary services for household pets.

The Order and Undertakings include:

• measures to empower pet owners when making choices
• measures to remove barriers to engagement and competition
• commitments from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) to:
  • support the remedies that are being imposed on relevant veterinary businesses
  • monitor businesses’ compliance with those remedies

The Explanatory Note explains how the Order will work.

We will soon be publishing an updated explainer on what veterinary businesses need to do to comply with the Order.

Published 22 September 2026