Ensuring Safe and Effective Veterinary Drugs for Canadians

The Role of the Directorate

Canada has an enviable reputation around the world for the high standards it employs in the development and use of veterinary drugs. Within Health Canada, the Veterinary Drugs Directorate is the organization in charge of reviewing and approving all veterinary drugs sold in Canada to ensure that drugs used in animals are:

• safe and effective for their intended purpose
• pose no threat to humans in the form of harmful residues from animal products such as meat, milk, eggs and fish
• manufactured according to strict specifications

Working With Stakeholders

While retaining its role to regulate veterinary drugs sold in Canada, the Veterinary Drugs Directorate also works in cooperation with many key stakeholder groups. Each group plays a vital role in the maintaining Canada's high standards for safe, effective veterinary drugs:

• Drug Manufacturers, who provide the Bureau with detailed information and results of studies carried out to establish the safety and effectiveness of drugs they seek to market in Canada. In the case of drugs intended for use in food-producing animals, information on toxicity and residues are also gathered and submitted to determine the appropriate withdrawal periods.
• Veterinarians, who advise clients such as livestock producers on the safe use of drugs, placing special emphasis on drug withdrawal periods. Veterinarians provide the first line of defence against potentially harmful residues getting into animal-based food products. They also play a key role in helping the Directorate track down and assess adverse reactions to drugs.
• Livestock producers, who depend on veterinary drugs to maintain healthy, productive animals and provide Canadians with supplies of food of animal origin which do not cause harmful effects on their health.
• Feed manufacturers, who produce medicated feeds. They play an important role in the food safety chain, ensuring correct concentrations of the proper ingredients are adequately mixed in feeds and that labels used on their products include adequate directions for use and proper withdrawal periods.
• Associations representing stakeholders, such as the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, the Canadian Animal Health Institute, marketing boards and consumer associations which provide important forums for the Directorate to communicate with stakeholders and interested Canadians across the country.
• Other government agencies, such as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada which collaborates with the Bureau in areas of mutual interest such as feed additive drugs, pesticides and drug residue analyses, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada which works with the Directorate regarding the use of drugs in Canada's fish farming industry.
• International organizations such as the World Health Organization provide a forum for the Directorate to work on the standardization of regulatory requirements for veterinary drugs, an issue of growing concern worldwide.

Working with all stakeholders, the Veterinary Drugs Directorate is committed to maintaining and protecting the health and safety of Canadians, and the health of animals in Canada, well into the 21^st century.