In United States agricultural policy, a Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) is a written statement that authorizes the owner or caretaker of animals to obtain and use animal feed containing VFD drugs to treat their animals in accordance with the FDA-approved directions for use. A VFD drug is a new animal drug approved under section 512(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. VFD drugs are limited to use under the professional supervision of a licensed veterinarian. No extra-label uses of a VFD drugs are permitted. VFD drugs are a category created as part of the Animal Drug Availability Act 1996 (P.L. 104-250) and final regulations are published by the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine in 21 CFR 510, 514, and 558.
To ensure the judicious use of antibiotics in food producing animals, new regulations go into effect on January 1, 2017 and many drugs will change from OTC to Rx status for medicated water and feed. Distributors and retailers that use these products will be required to meet the new VFD regulations when dispensing these products.
Third party solutions exist to automate the creation, management and retention of Veterinary Feed Directives in accordance with current regulations. One example is Rx Express from New Planet Technologies, Inc. Rx Express is a cloud-based VFD solution for use by veterinarians, producers, feedlots and retailers.