SHARJAH // Imported veterinary medicines will have to be registered with the Ministry of Health by the end of next year.
The registration was important to maintain the quality of medicine coming into the country as was already done with conventional medicine, said Saeed Hassan Al Nuaimi, the director of the department of veterinary health at the Ministry of Environment.
"The health and safety of animals is important to everyone in the country, because these animals are either eaten by people or live in our homes," he said.
Beginning on January 1 next year, no unregistered animal medicine would be allowed to enter the country, said Dr Amin Al Amiri, the assistant undersecretary of medical practices and licensing at the Ministry of Health.
He was addressing a group of veterinarians and pharmacists yesterday, as well as officials from the Ministry of Environment, municipalities and food control departments.
To be registered, the medicines must be approved for areas in which temperatures exceed 45°C.
The drugs must also be analysed by a laboratory in the UAE.
Veterinarians said yesterday that this would be too time consuming but Dr Al Amiri replied that the laboratories had sufficient capacity to handle all analysis requests in two to 12 weeks.