Guidance

Veterinary medicine residues inspection

Information for farmers about inspections the Veterinary Medicines Directorate carry out on on-farm medicines, medicine records and farm movement records.

Published 12 January 2016

• From: Veterinary Medicines Directorate

Who gets inspected

All UK livestock farms are eligible for inspection.

What gets inspected

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) inspects:

• on-farm medicines (including in feed)
• medicine records books (invoices and prescriptions for medicines and computer records where appropriate)
• farm movement records

Time and length

You will not get notice of an inspection - they can happen on any day at any time. It’s unlikely you’ll be inspected outside normal working hours unless there’s reason to suspect this will show you’re non-compliant.

An on-farm inspection takes 1 to 3 hours.

What happens next

Non-compliance results are reported in:

• the Marketing Authorisations Veterinary Information Service newsletter MAVIS
• Residues: Statutory Surveillance Results

Your details are not included in any publication.

The VMD works with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the local authority if enforcement measures are deemed necessary.

Published 12 January 2016