Message from the Secretary General and President

As President and Secretary General of AnimalhealthEurope we invite you to browse through our annual report to learn more about our activities to continue raising awareness on why animal health matters, as we worked throughout the year to ensure EU-wide implementation of the Regulations on Veterinary Medicines and Medicated Feed, as well as reduce potential negative impacts of horizontal legislation on the availability of animal health products.

New Parliament, new potential

With the new European Parliament taking up its seat in July 2024, this offered our Public Affairs colleagues a great opportunity to meet up with some fresh faces to highlight the important role that animal health plays in some of the key dossiers they will be working on, such as the proposal for a Regulation on dog and cat welfare and traceability and possibly the remaining animal welfare proposals. This was also an opportunity to promote one of our key asks from our 2024–2029 Manifesto, ensuring benefit-risk prevails in policy-making so that the availability of animal medicines is not unduly impacted in the future due to some of the chemicals-focused legislative files.

Year three of the new EU rules on veterinary medicines

We have been working very closely with our national associations on the implementation of the new EU Regulations on Veterinary Medicines and Medicated Feed. As we’re now in the third year it’s probably time enough now to stop calling them the ‘new rules’, particularly since the many Delegated and Implementing Acts have now all been published, with just some secondary legislation still outstanding. Work continues to ensure the Union Product Database functions as is intended, and some final elements are being ironed out.

One Health, Sustainability and Innovation remain our driving force

We’ve been pleased to be invited to speak at a number of events this year where we highlighted the role of prevention in animal health and innovations for sustainable livestock farming, and we have started a conversation with relevant stakeholders on the potentials for big data use in the animal health space. One Health was also a focal point in 2024, as we published a Call to Action for the European Commission to develop an over-arching One Health Strategy for the future.

A new Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare

As the new College of Commissioners was formed towards the end of the year, AnimalhealthEurope welcomed the new Commissioner and new title of ‘Health and Animal Welfare’. With animal health playing a central role both for health and animal welfare, we look forward to exchanging with the new Commissioner and providing some useful information on why animal health matters to the EU.

A call for dialogue, and not the one you think

2024 has been a great year for the word ‘dialogue’ as those invited to take part in the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture will be well-aware. As the animal health industry, we have been campaigning for more dialogue on agriculture for many years. But this year we started our own call for dialogue, in this instance between the animal health industry and veterinary authorities, for a more structured partnership to anticipate demands for vaccines and increase preparedness for animal disease outbreaks. Read more about this in the feature article.

None of what we have achieved this year would have been possible without the support of our member companies, associations and various experts we work with on a daily basis. Thanks also go of course to the association’s eager and dedicated secretariat who never seem to tire. And lastly, thanks to our partners in the Brussels bubble, the regulatory authorities and EU decision-makers who have involved the animal health sector in key meetings, spoken at our events, and willingly exchanged with us on animal health related topics.