Q&A Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products

Retailers of veterinary medicinal products that are listed in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register are allowed to trade in veterinary medicinal products online. They must also have displayed the logo for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products on each page where they offer a veterinary medicinal product.

You are a retailer of veterinary medicinal products if:

• You hold a D or DR licence.
• If you hold a D licence, you may offer non-prescription veterinary medicinal products of the VRIJ (unrestricted) category intended for food-producing animals.
• If you hold a DR licence, you may offer veterinary medicinal products subject to a prescription from a veterinarian of the URA (prescription-only) category. These URA veterinary medicinal products may only be offered in the Netherlands and exclusively subject to a veterinary prescription.
• You are a veterinarian or a pharmacist.
• Under Section 4.3 of the Veterinary Medicinal Products Decree 2022, veterinarians and pharmacists hold a DR licence by operation of law.
• You are a retailer who only trades in non-prescription veterinary medicinal products intended for non-food-producing animals.
• Under Section 4.2(5) of the Veterinary Medicinal Products Decree 2022, retailers of non-prescription veterinary medicinal products of the VRIJ category intended for non-food-producing animals do not require a retail licence. You must, however, register for inclusion in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register. Please register using the Web shops for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products registration form.

Please use the Retail of veterinary medicinal products licence application, amendment or withdrawal form to apply for, make changes to or withdraw a retail licence for veterinary medicinal products.

Veterinary medicinal products of the URA category may be sold online. However, they may only be sold with a veterinary prescription and only by sellers for whom it is stated in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register that they are allowed to sell veterinary medicines of the category URA.

As such, you will need a prescription from your veterinarian to be able to order this category of veterinary medicinal products.

You will only receive the veterinary medicine after the seller has received the prescription you submitted. A prescription is intended for one-off use only. You should not use the same prescription to purchase from multiple web shops or use the same prescription to order veterinary medicinal products at different times. Veterinary medicinal products of the URA category may only be offered in the Netherlands.

Veterinary medicinal products of the categories UDA or UDD may not be sold online directly to animal owners. Not even when a prescription is requested or if prior registration or login must take place before the veterinary medicinal product can be ordered or  if the sale is made exclusively to customers of a veterinary practice.

Legal basis
Pursuant to Article 104, paragraph 1 of the Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulation Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulation, persons permitted to supply veterinary medicinal products may online offer veterinary medicinal products provided that those veterinary medicinal products are not subject to a veterinary prescription. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a Member State may allow persons permitted to supply veterinary medicinal products to online offer veterinary medicinal products subject to a veterinary prescription. On the condition that the Member State has provided a secure system for such supplies. Such permission shall only be granted to persons established in their territory and supply shall only occur within the territory of that Member State.

In the Netherlands, Article 4.4 of the Veterinary Medicinal Products Decree 2022 states that retailers with a DR license may offer veterinary medicinal products designated pursuant to Article 5.1, paragraph 2. These concern veterinary medicines of the URA category.

This exception does not exist for veterinary medicines of the UDA and UDD categories and therefore they should not be sold online directly to animal owners.

Our definition of retail of veterinary medicinal products at a distance also covers veterinary products that can be ordered online using an order form on the website, for example. And if, for example, the website states ‘contact us before you purchase this veterinary medicine’, this also qualifies as retail of veterinary medicinal products at a distance, Because ‘retail at a distance’ means that a product is ordered over the phone or online. The key aspect is that the selling party and the consumer are not simultaneously physically present in the same place. 

Advertising
The information provided about veterinary medicines must always be in accordance with the official package leaflet texts as included in the Veterinary Medicinal Products Information Bank and must comply with the legal requirements regarding advertising for veterinary medicines. Advertising prescription-only veterinary medicines on a general website is not permitted. What information qualifies as advertising? The distinction between advertising and information is sometimes difficult to make.

In general, displaying the approved packaging (with labelling) in a neutral manner, along with a description including package leaflet text, does not qualify as advertising. Where text is changed, this is assumed to have an advertising purpose and the onus to prove that the changed text does not quality as advertising is on the party issuing the statement. Provided that the texts and design are not intended as advertising, the displayed price also qualifies as informative content. However, price promotion is not allowed for prescription-only veterinary medicines.

It is important that you provide sufficient information to the consumer to be able to make the right choice. You must state the main characteristics of the veterinary medicinal product you are offering. This is called information obligation. These rules arise from general rules on consumer law. You can read more about this here.

We therefore advise you to include a link to the package leaflet of the relevant veterinary medicinal product that you are offering and to state the text 'This is a veterinary medicinal product, read the package leaflet before use'.

You can link to the package insert by using the link below:

https://www.diergeneesmiddeleninformatiebank.nl/nl/regnlxxxxx

Instead of the xxxx, enter the numbers associated with the registration number. This number can be found on the outer packaging or in the package leaflet. This is the so-called REG NL number.

At the moment that no REG NL number is mentioned but, for example, a REG NL H number, also in this case you only mention regnl for the number.

Although the term nutritional supplements intended for animals is widely used, in legal terms it does not exist for animals. The term refers to supplementary animal feed. In the case of supplementary animal feed, it is vital that no veterinary claims are used and that any claims that are used are substantiated with a dossier. This dossier need not be submitted, but must be readily available and you must be able to provide it to the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) at its request during an inspection. Please find more information about animal feed claims in the Guidance on the Substantiation of Claims made on Animal Nutrition.

Furthermore, you must comply with all relevant legislation in the area of animal feed. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) is the competent authority in the animal feed domain – please see NVWA - animal feed

Due to the fact that supplementary animal feeds are not veterinary medicinal products, it is not possible to register supplementary animal feed for inclusion in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register. This is only an option if you supply veterinary medicinal products online that are included in the Veterinary Medicinal Products Information Bank (these can be identified by the REG NL, PAR NL or REG NL H numbers) or veterinary medicinal products with an exemption for specific companion animals. Please find more information about internet trade in veterinary medicinal products on the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products website.

If you do register and it appears that you do not sell veterinary medicinal products, your application for registration will not be processed.

This requirement under the rules for remote sales of veterinary medicines does not apply if consumers cannot purchase or order them via your website. In that case, you are not required to register for inclusion in the register for internet trade in veterinary medicines, and you do not need to display the common logo (see Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1904) next to the veterinary medicines referred to on your website. Our definition of online purchasing or ordering of veterinary medicines covers not only veterinary products that consumers can buy after placing them in the website shopping cart, but also those they can order using an order form on the website, for example. And if, for example, the website states ‘contact us before you purchase this veterinary medicine’, the rules also apply, Because ‘remote sale’ means that a product is ordered over the phone or online. The key aspect is that the selling party and the consumer are not simultaneously physically present in the same place.  

If you offer veterinary medicines for (food-producing) farm animals, or offer prescription-only veterinary medicines, whether online or in a brick-and-mortar shop, you must have a D licence or a DR licence, respectively. You can find more information about this on our website under Production and/or distribution licence application, change or withdrawal.

The information provided about veterinary medicines must always be in accordance with the official package leaflet texts as included in the Veterinary Medicinal Products Information Bank and must comply with the legal requirements regarding advertising for veterinary medicines. Advertising prescription-only veterinary medicines on a general website is not permitted. What information qualifies as advertising? The distinction between advertising and information is sometimes difficult to make.

In general, displaying the approved packaging (with labelling) in a neutral manner, along with a description including package leaflet text for a veterinary medicine, does not qualify as advertising. The same applies for displaying the price of a veterinary medicine in a neutral manner. Provided that the texts and design are not intended as a means to promote sales of the product (i.e. advertising), the displayed price also qualifies as informative content. However, price promotion is not allowed for prescription-only veterinary medicines.

Where text is changed (i.e. reworded or displayed selectively), this is assumed to have an advertising purpose and the onus to prove that the changed text does not quality as advertising is on the party issuing the statement.

Yes, you must also register for inclusion in the Register for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products if a customer can purchase or order a veterinary medicine via an app. You can do this registration via the Web shops for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products registration form. The name of the app will be included in the Register as Verkoop via app <app name>'.

All rules that apply to offering a veterinary medicinal product via an online shop also apply to offering a veterinary medicinal product via an app, because offering a veterinary medicinal product via an app also falls under the concept of ‘retail of veterinary medicinal products at a distance by means of information society services'.

A veterinarian hold a DR-license by operation of law only for the delivery of veterinary medicinal products to animal keepers for those animals for which the veterinarian has undertaken medical care in the course of his profession (Article 4.3(2) of the Veterinary Medicinal Products Decree 2022).

Without an additional license, this means for you as a veterinarian:

1. You may offer prescription free veterinary medicinal products intended for non-food-producing animals via internet trade*. This also applies if the animals to be treated are not covered by your medical care.
2. You may offer^* additional prescription free veterinary medicinal products of the category VRIJ intended for food-producing animals and/or veterinary medicinal products subject to prescription of the category URA via internet trade. However, this can only be done for those animals for which you have taken medical care as a veterinarian in the course of your profession.

You need an additional D-license if:

3. Would you like to offer prescription free veterinary medicinal products of the category VRIJ intended for food-producing animals – which are not covered by your medical care – via internet trade? In that case, you must additional^** apply for a D-license. You can do this via the form Application for a retail authorisation for veterinary medicinal products. The rate can be found under product type 1092 in the rates list BD.

You need an additional DR-license if:

4. Would you like to offer veterinary medicinal products of the category URA – intended for animals not covered by your medical care – subject to prescription via internet trade? In that case, you must additional^** apply for a DR-license. You can do this via the form Application for a retail authorisation for veterinary medicinal products. The rate can be found under product type 1092 in the rates list BD.

^* Via the webshop that is listed in the Register for the internet trade veterinary medicinal products.

^** This application comes on top of the Registration Register internet trade veterinary medicinal products. 

Inclusion in the Register for the Internet Trade of Veterinary Medicinal Products

The Register for the Internet Trade of Veterinary Medicinal Products states the ‘Category of Veterinary Medicinal Products’. For you as a veterinarian, this applies to:

• When you do not apply for an additional D- or DR-license, your webshop will be classified in the Register as: VRIJ – alleen gezelschapsdieren – DVM

This allows you to offer veterinary medicinal products online as mentioned in 1 and 2.

• When you apply for a D-license, your webshop will be classified in the Register as: VRIJ – DVM

This allows you to offer veterinary medicinal products online as mentioned in 1 to 3.

• When you apply for a DR-license, your webshop will be classified in the Register as: URA

This allows you to offer veterinary medicinal products online as mentioned in 1 to 4.

Do you deliver veterinary medicines outside the Netherlands? The general rule here is that the delivery must take place in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country in question. If you have any questions about these laws and regulations, you can contact the competent authorities of the country in question.

Before you deliver a veterinary medicine outside the Netherlands, we advise you to check the following points:

• Does the veterinary medicine have a marketing authorisation?
  When you deliver veterinary medicines in another EU Member State, the veterinary medicines you deliver must have a marketing authorisation in the country of delivery. Information about this can be found in the European public database of veterinary medicines. This can be found on the website Medicinesinfo.eu.
• Is the veterinary medicine not subject to a prescription?
  It is only permitted to offer veterinary medicines in the category ‘VRIJ’ outside the Netherlands. Please note: not all veterinary medicines that fall in the category ‘VRIJ’ (non-pom) in the Netherlands do this in other Member States. You must check yourself whether a veterinary medicinal product may actually be offered via internet trade in the country of sale. You can also check this via the Medicinesinfo.eu website.
• Does the veterinary medicinal product comply with the labelling regulations?
  If a veterinary medicinal product contains Dutch product information, this is not automatically accepted in the country of delivery. Article 7, paragraph 1 of the Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulation states:
  1. The language or languages of the summary of product characteristics and the information on the label and in the package leaflet is or are, unless the Member State determines otherwise, an official language or languages of the Member State where the veterinary medicinal product is marketed.

Register all domain names separately

In addition, we would like to point out the rules on domain names. Do you have a webshop with multiple domain names? Then you must register the webshop separately for each domain name. The top-level domain, abbreviated as TLD, is the (last) part of the domain name after the dot. So when the TLD is different (for example .fr instead of .nl), then it concerns a different domain name and you must register this webshop separately. Webshops aimed at the foreign market are checked separately in this way. However, this is done on the basis of the Dutch rules because you are based in the Netherlands. You must check yourself whether the webshop complies with the regulations of the country of delivery, this is your own responsibility.
 

You must register for inclusion in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register if you are a retailer of veterinary medicinal products and if you offer veterinary medicinal products through a web shop via the internet. Please register using the Web shops for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products registration form.

In order to remain listed in the updated Register, you must re-register for inclusion in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register. Please register using the Web shops for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products registration form.

At the start of November, we will be updating the current Register. This means that, at that time, only retailers that have re-applied will be included in the Register. You must complete your registration by 1 November in order to be included in the new version of the Register. The Register will then be updated once a month. If you are registering after 1 November, then your registration will be included from December.

If you are included in the Register of Licence Holders, this means that you hold a licence for the manufacturing or import or wholesale and retail trade in veterinary medicinal products.

This Register, however, is separate from the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register.

You must also apply for registration in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register if you wish to (continue to) sell veterinary medicinal products online. Please register using the Web shops for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products registration form. You are not allowed to offer veterinary medicinal products online without this additional form of registration or without displaying the logo for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products.

The fee for inclusion in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register can be found under fees and product types Veterinary Medicinal Products Unit. This fee applies per webshop. If you have multiple webshops, you register each of them separately and therefore also pay the registration fee per individual registration.

Yes – you must register for each individual web shop. The fee of 187 euros per registration will apply for each individual web shop. If you have more than one web shop, you must register each of these individual web shops separately and therefore pay the fee of 187 for each individual registration.

You must register the web shop for each individual holding. Please use the address of the main office to do so. The individual franchisees do not need to register separately in addition to this.

If you have one web shop that uses more than one domain name, then you must register the web shops for each individual domain name. Please register using the Web shops for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products registration form to register for the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register. A fee must be paid for each individual registration.

If you are supplying veterinary medicinal products online through a non-Dutch language website and are located in the Netherlands, then you must likewise register any non-Dutch websites because you are located in the Netherlands. You are similarly required to meet the requirements set out here in respect of non-Dutch language websites. In addition, you must meet the requirements that apply in the country where you are supplying veterinary medicinal products.

Only companies and institutions that are registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce can be included in the Dutch Internet trade register. Foreign companies and institutions will be registered in the country where they are registered. Whenever you offer veterinary medicinal products online in the Netherlands, you must comply with all laws and regulations that apply to veterinary medicinal products in the Netherlands.

The Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register is updated once a month. It may therefore be the case that your registration is not immediately be shown in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register. In such cases, your proof of registration will be sufficient proof that you are entitled to use the logo, in the event that you are audited for use of the logo. Your proof of registration will be an automatic notification that you will receive immediately after completing registration.

You must register for inclusion in the Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products register if you want to (continue to) sell veterinary medicines online. Please register using the Web shops for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products registration form. It is not allowed to offer veterinary medicines online without this registration and the placing of the logo for the internet trade of veterinary medicines on every page where you offer a veterinary medicine for sale.

Even if you only sell veterinary medicines online to customers of your veterinary practice, you must still comply with the rules for internet trade in veterinary medicines. Even if the customer comes to collect the veterinary medicinal product from your practice. After all, you offer the veterinary medicinal products for sale via the internet. Please register using the Web shops for internet trade in veterinary medicinal products registration form. In addition, you must meet the requirements regarding the placement of the logo.

The most important rules regarding the use of the logo are listed here and in the Terms of Use for Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products. You must place a link to the information portal for Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products below the logo.

The logo as displayed on the website is indeed quite large. The logo must have a minimum width of 90 pixels. This is equal to 2.38 cm. The requirements for the logo are outlined in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1904. You are not allowed to make any other changes to the logo.

The logo only relates to veterinary medicinal products:

• that are included in the Veterinary Medicines Information Bank;
• with an exemption for specific companion animals;
• that are included in the overview list of veterinary medicinal products without a legal basis as of 28 January 2022. These veterinary medicinal products are currently subject to a clearance time limit.

You must therefore display the logo directly on the page where the aforementioned veterinary medicinal product can be placed in the shopping cart by the consumer, to avoid creating the impression that the logo also applies to products other than the veterinary medicinal products referred to above.

The logo only relates to veterinary medicinal products:

• that are included in the Veterinary Medicines Information Bank;
• with an exemption for specific companion animals;
• that are included in the overview list of veterinary medicinal products without a legal basis as of 28 January 2022. These veterinary medicinal products are currently subject to a clearance time limit.

The logo indicates that the veterinary medicinal products referred to above may be sold via your web shop legally. You must therefore display the logo directly on the page where the aforementioned veterinary medicinal product can be placed in the shopping cart by the consumer, to avoid creating the impression that the logo also applies to products other than the veterinary medicinal products referred to above.

For the reason above, displaying the logo on the main page of your web shop is not allowed if you are selling more products than just veterinary medicinal products.

You may not make any changes to the logo (the addition of text, symbols, logos or other elements, changes in shape, colour and/or size or any other modification), and it must be displayed on your website exactly as provided by the Veterinary Medicinal Products Unit.

The logo may not be used in a context in which it has an advertising effect. For that reason, the logo only contains a link to the information portal for Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products and no additional text. This includes the contact details of the Veterinary Medicinal Products Unit. The relevant contact details are available via the hyperlink under the logo.

As soon as you start offering your veterinary medicinal products via an online platform, the rules regarding the use of the logo likewise apply.

The most important rules regarding the use of the logo are listed here and in the Terms of Use for Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products. You can download the logo internet trade veterinary medicines here. You place the logo on every page where you offer a veterinary medicinal product for sale. You must place a link to the information portal for Internet trade in veterinary medicinal products below the logo.