GAF
What Travelers Should Know About Importing Veterinary Products
The offer of vaccines for companion animals will have a solution with the sale through the consignment of these products, which is in the contracting phase by the competent entities
The Ministry of Agriculture clarifies to travelers that the importation of vaccines and other biological products for veterinary use are not contained in Resolution 430/2021, issued by the holder of Agriculture, at the proposal of the National Center for Animal Health (CENASA) and published in the Official Gazette No. 79 Extraordinary of September 9, 2021. When stating the reasons, the agency's note published on its website explains that this is due to the fact that they can be vehicles to build varied and powerful biological weapons; contain in its composition strains of pathogenic microorganisms different from those that circulate in our country, since the use of biological agents manipulated at will by man, could cause serious diseases to animals and even those considered zoonotic that affect human beings . It also insists on the fact that this route has been used as part of the biological aggressions of the United States government against Cuba. Dr. Manuel Peláez Reyes, Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Veterinary Assistance, maintains that authorized products such as antibiotics, antimycotics, antiparasitics and mineral-vitamin supplements, can be imported in all their presentations, that is, oral and injectable, always that have been acquired in safe and reliable markets. He warns that this avoids the risk of buying certain counterfeit or damaged products and, therefore, losing the effectiveness or causing certain damage to the animals. In its argumentation, the report details that as a consequence of the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, as well as the global economic crisis caused by COVID-19, the national drug industry has not been able to have the equipment, spare parts and raw materials to produce the drugs required by the basic table of drugs for veterinary use. This reality causes, therefore, a marked lack of products, such as antibiotics, antifungals, antiparasitics, mineral-vitamin supplements and instruments for veterinary use, used for the treatment of pathologies in animals, which constitutes a serious problem for the maintenance of the state of health and well-being of production and companion animals, abound. The note indicates that the offer of vaccines for companion animals will have a solution with the sale through the consignment of these products, which is in the contracting phase by the competent entities.
