Benefits to WOAH Delegates
VMRA-SAT supports the work of Chief Veterinary Officers.
How does VMRA-SAT support the work of CVOs?
Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs) are ultimately accountable for animal health outcomes, food safety, antimicrobial resistance and access to international markets. Many of the pressures faced by CVOs share a common root in the strength or weakness of national veterinary medicines regulatory systems. When regulatory arrangements are fragmented, under-resourced or unclear, even the best animal health strategies are harder to deliver.
The regulatory system of veterinary medicinal products varies across countries. In some systems, responsibility sits directly with the Chief Veterinary Officer or within the same ministry responsible for animal health, while in others it is led by a Ministry of Health agency that regulates both human and veterinary medicines and there are variations within these. Regardless of where formal regulatory responsibility sits, the quality and effectiveness of veterinary medicines regulation has direct implications for animal health, public health, food security, trade and confidence in national veterinary services. VMRA-SAT provides CVOs with a practical way to understand the strengths and gaps in the national regulatory system, support evidence-based dialogue with the responsible authority and advocate for improvements that protect animal health and veterinary service delivery. For CVOs who lead veterinary medicines regulation, the tool supports structured assessment and prioritisation. For those who do not, it provides a clear framework to engage with the relevant regulator, strengthen collaboration across government and ensure that veterinary medicines regulation supports wider national animal health objectives.
VMRA-SAT does not solve these challenges directly. Instead, it equips veterinary medicines regulatory authorities with a structured, evidence-based way to understand how their regulatory system is performing and what needs to be strengthened. By enabling National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) to clearly identify gaps, priorities and development needs, the tool supports CVOs in directing reform, mobilising investment and improving regulatory outcomes over time.
Delivering impact through stronger regulatory systems
Effective regulation of veterinary medicines underpins progress on some of the most pressing issues facing Chief Veterinary Officers today.
Tackling AMR
Stronger regulatory systems support responsible use of antimicrobials by
ensuring that products entering the market are appropriately authorised, monitored and controlled throughout their lifecycle. VMRA-SAT helps regulatory authorities assess whether the necessary legal frameworks, processes and oversight mechanisms are in place to support national AMR strategies.
Fighting SFVPs
Substandard and falsified veterinary medicinal products thrive in weak regulatory environments.
Through structured assessment of market surveillance, inspection, laboratory testing and enforcement functions, VMRA-SAT enables authorities to identify vulnerabilities that allow unsafe products to circulate and to articulate where strengthening is needed to protect animal and public health.
Availability
Availability of quality-assured veterinary medicinal products depends on regulatory systems that are robust but proportionate.
VMRA-SAT helps authorities diagnose bottlenecks in registration pathways, emergency authorisation arrangements and post-market processes, supporting evidence-based reform without compromising safety or quality.
Emergency access
VMRA-SAT helps evaluate whether emergency legal pathways exist and are fit for purpose
when rapid action is essential to protect animal health, public health and livelihoods.
Regulatory reliance
VMRA-SAT enables countries to understand and demonstrate the strength of their regulatory functions.
This can help build confidence in regulatory decisions and facilitate reliance on trusted partners where appropriate. This reduces duplication, supports collaboration and enables more efficient access to quality‑assured veterinary medicines.
Investment
The outputs of VMRA-SAT enable CVOs or those in charge of veterinary
medicine regulation to make the case for targeted investment in workforce capacity, systems and infrastructure based on identified needs rather than broad assumptions. This strengthens national ownership of regulatory reform and supports sustained improvements beyond individual mandates.
Alignment with international frameworks
VMRA-SAT is designed to complement existing WOAH tools and international commitments. It sits alongside the Performance of Veterinary Services Pathway and the Veterinary Legislation Support Programme, helping address a recognised gap by providing a detailed diagnostic focused specifically on veterinary medicines regulation.
By supporting a common language and structured approach to regulatory system assessment, VMRA-SAT also enables regional dialogue, reliance and harmonisation efforts. This supports CVOs in engaging effectively with international partners and advancing One Health priorities at national and global levels.
A country-led approach
Use of VMRA-SAT is voluntary and country-led. It is designed to support self-assessment and internal reflection rather than external inspection. The tool empowers national regulatory authorities to define their own development pathways, based on their context, resources and priorities.
For Chief Veterinary Officers, VMRA-SAT is therefore not an additional obligation, but a practical governance instrument. It strengthens the ability of regulatory authorities to fulfil their role as guardians of veterinary medicines and supports CVOs in delivering safer, more effective and more resilient animal health systems.
Why VMRA-SAT needs an independent home
VMRA-SAT is intended to support consistent, credible and comparable assessment of veterinary medicines regulatory systems across countries and regions. To fulfil this role, the tool requires an independent home that provides legitimacy, neutrality and long-term stewardship. Without a recognised global anchor, the value of the self-assessment tool risks being fragmented across regions, applied inconsistently or perceived as externally driven rather than country owned.
An independent home ensures that VMRA-SAT is governed transparently, maintained over time and applied in a way that supports trust, comparability and learning between countries. It also provides a mechanism to ensure the tool evolves in line with scientific progress, international standards and emerging global priorities such as antimicrobial resistance, One Health and safe food trade.
Above all, an independent home protects VMRA-SAT from becoming a one-off project outcome. It enables the tool to function as a sustained public good that countries can rely on to support regulatory system strengthening over the long term.
Why WOAH is the most suitable home
WOAH is well positioned to serve as the independent home for VMRA-SAT. Its mandate, governance structure and trusted relationships with Chief Veterinary Officers provide the legitimacy and neutrality required for a global self-assessment tool for veterinary medicines regulation.
Housing VMRA-SAT within WOAH ensures alignment with existing frameworks such as the Performance of Veterinary Services Pathway (which includes the PVS Evaluation and the Veterinary Legislation Support Programme, VLSP) and the One Health Legislative Assessment Tool for Antimicrobial Resistance (OHLAT-AMR). This avoids duplication and ensures that VMRA-SAT complements, rather than competes with, WOAH’s existing tools, which countries use to strengthen veterinary services and governance and to deliver global AMR and One Health strategies.
WOAH’s convening power and technical networks support consistent application of the tool across regions while respecting national context. As a member-led organisation, WOAH provides a natural platform for country ownership, peer learning and voluntary uptake. This reinforces the principle that VMRA-SAT is a country-led diagnostic tool that empowers national regulatory authorities to identify gaps and articulate what is needed to improve performance.
Finally, an institutional home within WOAH supports sustainability. It provides the governance framework needed for version control, technical updates and long-term accessibility, ensuring that VMRA-SAT remains a credible reference point for veterinary medicines regulatory system strengthening well into the future.
Calling on WOAH Delegates – we want to hear your opinion of VMRA-SAT
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate of the United Kingdom (VMD) as the developer of the tool is working in close collaboration with WOAH to raise awareness of VMRA-SAT among Members, build understanding of its purpose and value, and support discussion on its potential adoption as a WOAH tool.
Delegates can contribute by engaging in discussions at Regional Commission meetings, attending technical briefings and side events, and sharing views on how VMRA-SAT aligns with existing WOAH frameworks such as the PVS pathway (PVS Evaluation and VLSP) and OHLAT-AMR. Equally important is encouraging national veterinary medicines regulatory authorities to engage with the tool, as country led use provides the strongest evidence that VMRA-SAT responds to real needs and adds value without imposing new obligations.
By supporting the proposal to house VMRA-SAT within WOAH, Delegates help ensure that veterinary medicines regulation is recognised as a core component of strong veterinary services and effective animal health systems. If you need further information, demonstration or to discuss further, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@vmra-sat.org.
FAQs
VMRA-SAT is a structured, globally applicable, country-owned and voluntary self-assessment tool designed specifically for authorities responsible for regulating veterinary medicinal products. It helps authorities evaluate the maturity and implementation of their veterinary medicines regulatory systems through a self-led, evidence-based process, identify strengths and gaps, agree priorities and support support institutional development planning.
VMRA-SAT assesses the regulatory functions that support responsible oversight of veterinary antimicrobials, including registration and marketing authorisation (are antimicrobials properly evaluated before reaching the market), pharmacovigilance (are adverse effects and resistance patterns monitored), market surveillance (are products on the market what they claim to be) and inspection and supply chain controls. This gives authorities evidence to target improvements that support National Action Plans on AMR and wider One Health priorities.
Yes. VMRA-SAT has been piloted in 11 countries across four WOAH regions so far, selected to reflect diversity in geography, income level and regulatory maturity. Pilot countries have included Rwanda, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Mexico, Chile, Australia, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
No. VMRA-SAT is intended to complement existing WOAH support mechanisms, with a specific focus on strengthening veterinary medicines regulation.
The PVS Pathway evaluates the broad performance of a country’s Veterinary Services across their functions. VMRA-SAT focuses specifically on the regulation of veterinary medicinal products, providing a detailed function-level diagnostic for veterinary medicines regulation. It is therefore complementary to, rather than duplicative of, the PVS Pathway and the Veterinary Legislation Support Programme.
Adoption would mean that VMRA-SAT is housed within WOAH as a recognised tool for supporting veterinary medicines regulatory capacity-building. This would give the tool a credible institutional home, align it with WOAH’s existing work on PVS, AMR, One Health and veterinary legislation, support sustainability, version control and technical updates, and help Member Countries and partners use a common framework and language for veterinary medicines regulatory system strengthening. Its use would remain voluntary.
VMRA-SAT can be described as a mirror for regulators, helping them reflect on what is working well, where the gaps are and what progress is needed over time. It supports veterinary medicines regulatory authorities to reflect, plan and strengthen their systems in a structured and practical way.
WOAH and its partners are currently engaging with Members and other stakeholders to gather feedback on the relevance and value of VMRA-SAT. Subject to the outcome of these consultations and the relevant governance processes, consideration of the potential adoption of VMRA-SAT will take place at the 94th WOAH General Session in May 2027.
VMRA-SAT was introduced to WOAH Delegates through a side event and exhibition kiosk at the 93rd WOAH General Session in May 2026. Additional stakeholder engagement, regional workshops, Member consultations and refinement of the tool are planned throughout 2026 and 2027.
Countries interested in using VMRA-SAT can either request access to the Full Version (Desktop) or use the Lite Web Version (WebApp) as a streamlined entry point. Countries may also request further information, a demonstration or discussion with the project team by contacting info@vmra-sat.org. There is no cost to participate as a pilot country.
Visit the VMRA-SAT website at www.vmra-sat.org or contact the project team at info@vmra-sat.org.