This Federal Act concerns veterinary medicinal products (including pure substances) and applies to their importation, placing on the market, application, keeping ready for application, storage and possession.
The Act defines veterinary medicinal products as medicines intended for use on animals which are used to produce food or other products for human use; it also defines therapeutic emergency as a situation with no veterinary medicinal product approved or available in Austria for the corresponding treatment of an animal or animal species.
The text consists of 17 articles, divided into five sections: 1) general provisions; 2) Use, placing on the market and trade in veterinary medicinal products; 3) Inspection and control by the competent authorities; 4) criminal provisions; 5) final provisions.
Concerning the use, the Act prescribes that only medicinal products authorized in Austria may be used, even in medicated feeds, except for the case of a therapeutic emergency. In this event, the Act specifies what kind of medicines may be use, including substances with hormonal or thyrostatic effects and beta-agonists used in animal production and animal vaccines. The Act empowers the responsible veterinarian to determine an appropriate waiting period to ensure that the food obtained from a treated animal does not contain residues dangerous for the consumer. Specific indications concern bees and animals not intended for the production of food or other products for human consumption.