The Veterinary Medicines Directorate's (VMD's) online services will be closed from August 26-30 so that "essential maintenance work" can be carried out, the VMD has said today (Tuesday, August 23).

Specifically, the services will be down from 5:00p.m on Friday, August 26, to 6:00a.m on Tuesday, August 30.

This means that during that time, the following services will be unavailable:

The following registers will also be unavailable:

In urgent cases where the VMD has previously issued a certificate for animals(s) under care, it will allow for the purchase and use of imported veterinary medicine prior to obtaining a certificate from the VMD.

This special dispensation will only apply to the VMD online system during this essential maintenance period.

The VMD advises for import certificates to be obtain as soon as possible and apologises for any inconvenience.