The National Veterinary Prescription System (NVPS) is coming in as a result of new Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulations.

The Department of Agriculture says that the new regulations will provide for tighter controls around the use of antiparasitic medicines.

The system is being installed in all vet practices and licensed merchants and co-ops.

According to the current regulations, vets will have to issue prescriptions using the new system from 13 January for all prescription-only medicines.

This will be in the form of an email or text message to the farmer.

From June 2025, all antiparasitic medicines will require a veterinary prescription.

If a vet is not providing veterinary services to the farmer the vet will have to fill out a proper assessment protocol as part of the prescription process.

Statement

Vets are also required to keep a statement for each transaction justifying the prescribing of an antimicrobial medicine, in particular for preventative use or group treatment.

Farmers will require an electronic prescription for the medicine that they wish to purchase and will then be free to purchase this medicine from any vet, licensed merchant or co-op.

The vet and licensed merchant will be required to keep records of prescribed medicines and medicine usage on farms.

These records can be shared with the Department of Agriculture for monitoring purposes for medicine usage on farms.

It’s unclear as yet what vets will charge farmers for prescriptions.