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Congress established the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) category of medicated feed as part of the Animal Drug Availability Act of 1996. The FDA-CVM had expressed a need for greater control over new therapeutic antimicrobial drugs for use in feed. The VFD category provides an alternative to prescription status for new antimicrobial feed additives. A VFD drug is approved for mixing into animal feed after a signed directive (VFD) is issued by a licensed veterinarian. The new process enhances animal health and food safety by ensuring veterinary diagnosis of animal disease in order to feed Veterinary Feed Directive medicated feeds.
The AVMA is a member of the VFD Coalition, a group which was organized to educate veterinarians, producers and feed suppliers about the VFD process. The educational materials which appear here were developed by the Coalition. Included are fact sheets, Q & A's, diagrams, and a sample VFD. The materials are focused at particular audiences. Some fact sheets and Q & A's were developed specifically for veterinarians, while others would be most useful to producers and feed suppliers. The process diagrams and sample VFD are useful to all.
The first approved VFD drug is an antibiotic labeled for swine respiratory disease. The product is expected to be commercially available in the Spring of 1997.
The Veterinarian Feed Directive
Distribution Diagrams
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= AVMA/SAVMA Members Only
