No-deal Brexit will lead to vets crisis warns RCVS chief Boag
A “no-deal” Brexit would put both public health and animal welfare in jeopardy according to the veterinary profession’s governing body.
Calling for the profession to be put on the official shortage occupation list, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has warned that vets are already in short supply – and a poor deal on Brexit would exacerbate the situation.
Speaking after issuing a position statement, RCVS president Amanda Boag said the likely reduction in the number of EU vets operating in the UK together with a huge increase in the workload due to a trebling of the certification requirements for exports of animal products would compromise the sector’s ability to cope.
Commenting that around 50 per cent of the vets regis- tering in the UK every year were from other EU countries, she pointed out that as well as holding key academic and research positions, vets from other EU countries accounted for around 95 per cent of those currently working in public health for meat production.
She said that as they played a vital role in ensuring the quality of meat and other animal products both in the import and export side as well as in the monitoring of infectious diseases, any restriction on movement was highly likely to exacerbate the current shortage:
“Any significant barriers to the future registration or working rights of Eu-qualified vets may have serious implications for both food standards and production and therefore both public health and animal welfare,” warned Boag.
And she threw scorn on the idea that it would be simple to recruit more vets from non EU countries, stating that many nations such as Australia, New Zealand and North America where equivalent standards were recognised had shortages of their own – and additional examinations required for vets from other countries represented a barrier:
“However, removing these barriers could amount to a lowering of veterinary standards in the UK, with all the attendant risks to animal health and welfare and public health,” she warned.