Veterinary medicines residues inspection
Information for farmers about inspections carried out on on-farm medicines, medicine records and farm movement records.
Who gets inspected
All UK livestock farms are eligible for inspection.
What gets inspected
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Cefas, and Marine Directorate inspect farms on behalf of the VMD. Inspectors from these agencies will look at:
- 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 published on the Residues: Statutory Surveillance Results page of GOV.UK.
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.
Last updated 2 October 2023 + show all updates
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Added Cefas and Marine Directorate who also inspect farms.
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Reviewed and updated to state APHA inspects farms on behalf of the VMD.
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First published.