Permit to Allow Supply of Blood Products by Veterinarians |
| The APVMA has advised that
under section 5(2) of the Agvet Code animal blood is a veterinary chemical
product. Section 78 provides that a person must not supply, or cause or
permit to be supplied, a chemical product that is not a registered chemical
product unless the supply is authorised by permit. On 12 August 2003,
the APVMA issued a permit which allows registered veterinary surgeons
to supply animal blood products which otherwise require registration.
This permit will be in force for one year only and the APVMA does not
intend to extend the permit beyond The permit will give veterinary surgeons time to make arrangements to register such products, though the APVMA is investigating a proposal to classify these as low risk products to be dealt with by means other than registration. Anyone supplying blood or blood products (not just collecting and using
in their practice) should contact the Veterinary Medicines Division of
the APVMA on telephone: 6272 3744. A copy of the permit, number 6836,
can be viewed on the APVMA web site at: http://www.apvma.gov.au/permits/
permits.shtml by inserting “6836” in the “PER”
box. Cows Can’t Get Some Legal ActionThe San Francisco Gate reported the dismissal of a suit alleging false advertising in a TV ad campaign, which showed happy cows frolicking in green pastures, followed by the slogan “Great cheese comes from happy cows–happy cows come from California”. An animal rights organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), argued that, contrary to the California Milk Advisory Board’s commercials, Californian dairy cows lead miserable lives in muddy fields without any grass, and put up with chemical and genetic manipulation to force them to produce vast quantities of milk. Judge David Garcia ruled that the government dairy body was exempt from laws relating to false advertising, thus neatly sidestepping the question of whether the cows were happy or not. “Ads that try to get you to believe that cows are happy when they’re really miserable should not be allowed, just because they are sponsored by the government,” complained Matthew Pendza, the lawyer acting for PETA. Originally published: NSW Law Society Journal, May 2003 |