The DEFRA Code of Practice is issued by the Secretary of State under the Veterinary Medicines Regulations. It sets down the standards that must be complied with by AMTRA, by SQPs who are registered with AMTRA having passed the required examinations and who may therefore supply veterinary medicinal products classified as POM-VPS and NFA-VPS, and by retail businesses with premises that are registered to be able to hold and supply veterinary medicinal products.
All SQPs are required to abide by the current version of the Code of Practice, to abide by the Veterinary Medicines Regulations taking account of VMD’s Veterinary Medicines Guidance Notes, and to act in a professional manner.
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The current Code of Practice for SQPs is that dated April 2017. AMTRA SQP examinations are always based upon the Code of Practice currently in force.
The full text of the Code is available as a PDF file:
See also the inspection criteria, below, that were formerly published as part of the Code.
In addition to abiding by the terms of the Code of Practice, SQPs should follow the VMD’s guidance, notably that offered on Retail of veterinary medicines (December 2018) – also in the 2019 AMTRA SQP Compendium.
Other guidance notes may also be of relevance and should be studied – see the full VMD list on the gov.uk website.