Overview

Fipronil and imidacloprid are active substances in veterinary medicines widely used for the treatment and prevention of flea and tick infestations in cats and dogs.  The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is reviewing whether these veterinary medicines should continue to be sold without professional advice. This is following emerging evidence that they may contribute to environmental contamination, particularly in watercourses. 

Purpose

This call for evidence seeks data on environmental impacts of fipronil or imidacloprid and on how any potential changes to their supply routes might affect animal welfare, pet owners, businesses, and access to these medicines.

Audience

Anyone may respond to the call for evidence.  Those who may have a particular interest include:

• Marketing authorisation holders and wholesale distributors of veterinary medicines
• Veterinary surgeons, suitably qualified persons (SQPs) and pharmacists
• Pet owners
• Academia
• Environmental NGOs and conservation groups
• Water industry

How to respond

Our preferred way of receiving responses is through the Citizen Space platform.

If you are unable to use Citizen Space, you can download the call for evidence documents and return your response via email to consultation@vmd.gov.uk (Please include "Call for Evidence" in the subject line)

The call for evidence will run for 8 weeks. The call for evidence opens on 16/04/2026 and closes at 23:59 on 11/06/2026. Any responses received after this date will not be analysed.

Confidentiality and data protection

Information you provide in response to this call for evidence may be disclosed in accordance with UK legislation, including the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.  

If you would like the information you provide to be treated as confidential, please tell us and explain why. For example, for commercial sensitivity, please tell us what the likely harm might be. We will consider your request, but we cannot guarantee confidentiality in all circumstances. Any decision to withhold information will be made in line with the relevant legislation, including the Freedom of Information Act and the associated public interest test. Automatic confidentiality disclaimers generated by IT systems will not be treated as confidentiality requests.   

We will process your personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. For further information about how we handle personal data, please see our Privacy Policy. 

We will publish a summary of the responses received on GOV.UK. The summary may list the organisations that responded, but it will not include personal names, addresses or other contact details.

What Happens Next

After the close of this call for evidence, the VMD will publish the summary of responses within the recommended 12-week period. The findings from the Call for Evidence will inform the review and a report will be published by the VMD. All feedback will be anonymised in the summary for responses and the final report.