GAF
Cuba authorizes the importation of some products for veterinary use
A resolution of the Ministry of Agriculture (Minag) of Cuba suspended this Friday the import restrictions by travelers of a group of products for veterinary use.
Published in the Extraordinary Official Gazette number 79, Minag Resolution 430 of 2021 authorizes non-commercial imports of the following veterinary products: antibiotics, antifungals, antiparasitics and vitamin mineral supplements. It added to the list the instruments for veterinary use and accessories for pets, in their original containers, duly labeled and identified with the commercial and generic name or international common denomination. On its website, the institution specified that the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States means that the national drug industry does not have the equipment, spare parts and raw materials to produce the drugs required by the Basic Table of Medicines for Veterinary Use. For this reason, there is a marked lack of said products used in the treatment of pathologies, which constitutes a serious problem for the maintenance of the state of health and well-being of production and companion animals. For these reasons, the National Center for Animal Health proposed to suspend the restriction of the importation by travelers of products for veterinary use. In the opinion of the specialists, this decision will allow, in addition to reducing the lack of medicines, to improve the health status of the herds, both productive and companion animals, and will reduce the losses caused by diseases and especially parasitic ones that cause so much damage. cause. They clarified that travelers must purchase these items from safe and reliable markets, since there is a risk of buying certain counterfeit or damaged products, and therefore, lose their effectiveness or cause adverse effects. They added that the importation of vaccines and other biological products was not conceived in this approval, because these can be vehicles to build diverse and powerful biological weapons. They may also contain in their composition strains of pathogenic microorganisms different from those that circulate in Cuba. They stated that the use of biological agents manipulated at will by man can cause serious diseases to animals and even those considered zoonotic, without ruling out that this route has been used as part of the biological attacks of the United States Government against the island. The Minag announced that the supply of vaccines for companion animals to the population will have a solution based on other variants of commercialization of national and imported products, which will be informed by the General Directorate of Animal Health.
