The United Kingdom could use its divorce with the European Union and avoid implementing the bloc’s rules limiting the use of drugs for healthy animals, the Guardian reported on Thursday.
According to the British newspaper, the UK government animal health experts have been advising farmers and veterinary surgeons that they will not have to implement the new EU rules as they will not enter into force before Brexit cut off date in March next year.
Free from the EU ban, UK farmers and vets could dose healthy animals as well as those diagnosed with illnesses through their feed, the newspaper reported.
The new EU regulation has already been confirmed by the EU ambassadors and is expected to apply at the latest in 2022.
In early June, the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and European Parliament representatives reached an agreement on rules on veterinary medicines. The agreement is expected to limit the use of antibiotics for animals that are not yet sick, among other measures.