About Us

Originally established in 1966 as a co-op solely for purchasing grain East Down Farmers Limited is a local business run by local people. Over the years EDF has continued to expand our product offerings and is now one of the leading independent agricultural merchants Northern Ireland or Co Down has to offer.

We take pride in the service we offer and know that farming is a complex industry, which is why most of our staff are from farming backgrounds and are trained in AMTRA (animal health) and BASIS (sprays).

About Our Animal Feeds

• Feeds available for Cattle, Sheep, Pig, Poultry & Horses
• Meal available in 25kg bags, 1/2 ton bags and bulk from bulk bins 

Agricultural Merchants Northern Ireland

Members of our Co-op can attest to the advantages of joining, however even non-members can take advantage of most our huge product offering.

If you wish to contact East Down Farmers then please feel free to reach us by phone on 02844 841463, or alternatively you can email us at info@eastdownfarmers.com.

East Down Farmers Complaints can be put in writing to East Down Farmers Ltd, 20 Tullynaskeagh Road, Downpatrick, Co Down, Northern Ireland, BT30 7EU or can be emailed to info@eastdownfarmers.com 
We'll investigate your complaint and send you a full reply within 15 working days. If this isn't possible, we'll let you know why and tell you when you can expect a full response.

About Veterinary Medicines

Buying authorised veterinary medicines

As a pet owner/horse owner/farmer, you'll want to be sure that the medicines you're giving your pet/horse/livestock are safe, effective and legal. Buying your veterinary medicines from us, a VMD-accredited internet retailer, you can be sure that:

• we are a UK-based retailer and authorised to sell veterinary medicines
• we only supply veterinary medicines that are authorised in the UK, meaning they're proven to be safe and effective when used as directed.
   

About
We are approved by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) for the retail supply of POM-VPS and NFA-VPS veterinary medicines by a suitably qualified person (SQP). Our premises approval number is: 2028617. You can check our approval on the VMD's website (https://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/registers/approved-premises.aspx  ) or by contacting the VMD directly.

Registered Qualified Person
Our registered qualified person with responsibility for the supply of veterinary medicines classified as POM-VPS/ NFA-VPS is Chris Carinduff /  QR60113.
You can verify that Chris Carinduff is an SQP by checking the RCVS's register
AMTRA's list of SQPs (http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/registers/sqpregister.aspx )
For more details about SQPs, click here: http://www.amtra.org.uk/sqp.html

Our registered business address
The owner of the business is East Down Farmers Ltd:
20 Tullynaskeagh Road
Downpatrick
Co.Down
BT30 7EU
Tel: 02844 841463
Email: info@eastdownfarmers.com
Company No.NI000132
VAT No. GB 254 9320 56


The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD):
The VMD is the UK government agency responsible for the controls on veterinary medicines in the UK, including their authorisation, manufacture and supply. The Accredited Internet Retailer Scheme (AIRS) In 2012 the VMD set up the Accredited Internet Retailer Scheme (AIRS) in response to the public's concerns about buying veterinary medicines online.
You can learn more about the work of the VMD and AIRS by going to the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/accredited-internet-retailer-scheme-airs  


Authorisation and classification of veterinary medicines:
Any product in the UK that makes a veterinary medicinal claim must be authorised. You can tell if a veterinary medicine is authorised as it will include English language labelling that it's important that you read and understand. The label will include a unique UK marketing authorisation number, which will appear in one of the following formats:

• Vm 04321/4001
• Vh 05467/4007
• EU/1/99/099/001-001

Alternatively, the product may include a statement "This veterinary medicine is marketed in accordance with Schedule 6 of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations - Exemptions for small pet animals" or similar on the label and packaging.

There are four classifications of authorised veterinary medicines:
1. Prescription-only Medicine - Veterinarian (abbreviated to POM-V)
2. Prescription-only Medicine - Veterinarian, Pharmacist, Suitably Qualified Person (SQP) (abbreviated to POM-VPS)
3. Non-Food Animal - Veterinarian, Pharmacist, Suitably Qualified Person (SQP) (abbreviated to NFA-VPS)
4. Authorised Veterinary Medicine - General Sales List (abbreviated to AVM-GSL)

You can use the VMD's Product Information Database to check if a product is authorised and its classification, or to search for a UK-authorised veterinary medicine. The search facility allows you to search by trade name, active substance, species, legal classification and many other options. Each product has a Summary of Product Characteristics (SPCs) that tells you all about the medicine.

For more information visit the VMD's Product Information Database here: http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/ProductInformationDatabase/  

Prescription misuse
It is an offence to:

1. Alter a prescription issued by a vet, pharmacist or SQP e.g.

• Change the date the prescription was signed
• Change the quantity of the product
• Include additional medicines 

2. Fraudulently produce a prescription e.g.

• Forge a prescription
• Forge the signature of a vet, pharmacist or SQP

Send the same prescription to multiple retailers

Our RQP carefully checks all prescriptions and will report suspected prescription misuse to the VMD or the police.

What to do if your pet suffers an adverse reaction: No medicine is risk free and all medicines have the potential to cause adverse effects. Some of the adverse effects are known about and these are explained in the product's SPC. Others that may only rarely occur or are specific for certain breeds or groups of animals may only be seen when the products are used more widely. If you suspect that you or your animal has had an adverse reaction to a veterinary medicine, or you think the medicine hasn't worked as it should have done, report it to the VMD using the form available via the link below:
https://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/adversereactionreporting/   

See below link for the VMD Adverse Event Reaction Scheme
https://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/adversereactionreporting/  

Complaints about veterinary medicines: If you have a complaint about the quality of a veterinary medicine please contact us in the first instance. You can find our complaints policy in our Terms & Conditions [ https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/veterinary-medicines-directorate/about/complaints-procedure ]. However, if you feel that we haven't resolved your complaint satisfactorily, you can contact the VMD https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/veterinary-medicines-directorate/about/complaints-procedure  
Please note that the VMD will only consider complaints about veterinary medicines supplied, not about service, delivery, cost or non-medicinal products.