Regulation No. 539 on veterinarians' authorisations to prescribe drugs. Country/Territory Iceland Document type Regulation Date 2000 Source FAO, FAOLEX Subject Livestock, Food & nutrition, Fisheries Keyword Fish disease Aquaculture Drugs Vaccination Offences/penalties Animal health Food quality control/food safety Hygiene/sanitary procedures Meat Milk/dairy products Residues Animal feed/feedstuffs Geographical area Arctic, Atlantic Ocean Islands, Europe, Europe and Central Asia, North Atlantic, North-East Atlantic, Northern Europe Entry into force notes This Regulation entered into force on 1 August 2000. Abstract This Regulation contains special provisions applying to veterinarians’ authorisations to prescribe drugs. Its provisions are divided in the following sections: I. Scope and definitions; II. Drugs which may not be administered to animals or which may only be used subject to specific limitations; III. Drugs which veterinarians may prescribe to the owners or keepers of animals; IV. Drugs administered to aquaculture species; V. Miscellaneous provisions; VI. Monitoring, penalties and entry into force. According to Article 2, Veterinary drugs may only be prescribed by veterinarians. Hormones may not be administered to livestock for the purpose of stimulating their growth or increasing yield, and may only be administered to animals when authorised by the Icelandic Medicines Agency. The Regulation also contains minimum waiting periods when drugs without marketing authorisation have been used to treat a specific disease in a species of animal the products of which are used for human consumption, as permitted by the Regulation. Animals may only be treated with antibiotics following diagnosis by a veterinarian, who must also personally initiate the treatment when the animals in question are livestock. The use of vaccines, antibiotics and colouring agents in aquaculture is prohibited except with the approval of the Committee for Fish Pathology. Full text English Website www.government.is