The Veterinary Medicines information website, the public interface of the Union Product Database, enables everyone with an interest in veterinary medicines to:
The restricted area of the Union Product Database (UPD) is only accessible to:
Registered users can access it via:
Find below a registration guide with step-by-step instructions on how to request access to the restricted areas of the UPD user interface and public API:
The registration guide also contains instructions for marketing authorisation holders on how to request access to the UPD via read-only API.
Members of the public and organisations have the two following options to access UPD non-confidential product data:
Detailed guidance and technical specifications for all API users can be found in Chapter 5 of the EU Implementation Guide (referenced in the section below).
The implementation guide for the Union Product Database (Version 1) is available below.
It contains guidance for marketing authorisation holders and national competent authorities on the submission of data on veterinary medicines to the Union Product Database using standardised data formats and terminologies throughout the EU.
The different chapters of the guide explain the timelines, requirements, process, technical specification, data elements and associated business rules for submitting these data.
The UPD draws on the four SPOR data management services for the centralised management of master data in the EU. For more information, see Substance, product, organisation and referential (SPOR) master data.
National competent authorities(NCA) need to submit their legacy product data into the Union Product Database before Regulation (EU) 2019/6 becomes applicable on 28 January 2022.
Legacy product data refers to any data on veterinary medicines authorised in EU Member States before 28 January 2022. Submitting this data is essential for enabling correct functioning of the database and other interdependent systems.
Since July 2021, competent authorities can upload legacy product information into the Union Product Database, using either an application programming interface (API) or a web user interface.
This applies to all veterinary medicinal products authorised in the EU via mutual recognition, decentralised procedure, national procedure or centralised procedure. For more information see:
Guidance on the process and format for submitting legacy data for national competent authorities is available in the implementation guide for the Union Product Database and in a question-and-answer (Q&A) document below.
For questions not covered by this guidance NCA staff may send a question to the European Medicines Agency.
For information on how to update package information, please see the following document:
Marketing authorisation holders should submit the following to the Union Product Database:
| Update: The deadline for submitting 2024 volume of sales data is 28 February 2025 |
Guidance on submitting data is available in chapter seven of the Implementation guide for the Union Product Database and in the question and answer document below.
For questions not addressed in the guidance, please send a question to the European Medicines Agency.
Organisations should make sure that adequate business continuity processes and back-up systems are in place to deal with system failures. This will ensure that any system failures can be resolved within a short period of time and submissions made in a timely manner.
In case of a system failure of the Union Product Database requiring resolution by EMA, the organisation will be considered compliant with any submission deadlines if they submit as soon as possible after the Union Product Database becomes available again.
For example, marketing authorisation holders have 30 days after implementing a relevant change to submit a variation not requiring assessment into the Union Product Database. Should the system not be accessible on the day an organisation wishes to submit a variation not requiring assessment, they should submit within 2 business days after the system becomes available again.
The access policy for the Union Product Database sets out the types of information different user groups will be allowed to access.
The final access policy is available below together with the outcome of a public consultation.
A joint controllership arrangement describes the processing of personal data in the Union Product Database, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and EU Data Protection Regulation.
The joint controllership arrangement describes the roles and responsibilities of EMA and the Member States regarding the processing of personal data in the database. It sets out the measures they must put in place to ensure that personal data in the database is securely processed, and covers how the parties are to handle any personal data breaches.