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WSAVA to host 2024 Congress in China
The Suzhou International Expo Center will host next year's Congress.
The First World Congress is announced for Suzhou, China.

The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) has announced its flagship World Congress will take place in China in 2024.

The three-day event will run from 3-5 September 2024 at the Suzhou International Expo Center in Suzhou.

This will be the first time the Congress has been hosted in China, which has one of the world’s fastest growing veterinary markets.

The congress is a leading global forum for companion animal veterinary professionals, with WSAVA representing over 200,000 veterinarians worldwide across 115 member associations.

It will be organised and hosted jointly by two of the WSAVA’s member associations in the country: the Beijing Small Animal Veterinary Association (BJSAVA) and the Shanghai Small Animal Veterinary Association (SHSAVA).

The organisers will appoint their own professional congress organiser, who will work closely with the WSAVA to prepare the scientific programme.

WSAVA president Dr Ellen van Nierop said: “With more than 200 million pets living in Chinese households and more than 22,000 companion animal veterinary clinics already established, the need for highly trained companion animal veterinary professionals is only likely to grow. We are looking forward to bringing WSAVA World Congress to this exciting and rapidly evolving veterinary market.

“Working in partnership with the BJSAVA and SHSAVA, we are preparing to deliver a feast of world-class continuing education to companion animal veterinary professionals, and to learn from our Chinese members, who have so much to contribute to our global veterinary community.”

Companies or organisations interested in participating in WSAVA 2024 can register their interest online.

WSAVA 2023 will take place in Lisbon from 27-29 September.

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Annual submission deadline small pet animal exemptions

News Story 1
 Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.

Submitting this annual return ensures continued compliance with regulatory requirements for products marketed without a full Marketing Authorisation. The exemption specifically applies to products intended for animals, cage birds, terrarium animals, small rodents, ferrets and rabbits.

For further details and submission guidelines, visit the gov.uk website.  

Click here for more...
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Bluetongue RZ extended across Scotland

The Scottish Government has announced an extension to a Bluetongue Restricted Zone that is in place in south-west Scotland.

From 3 October, the Restricted Zone will be extended to cover the whole of Scotland. The Animal, Plant and Health Agency (APHA) says this is in response to further disease spread, as well as simplify trading conditions ahead of the autumn.

Since the whole country will share a disease status, it will no longer be necessary to have a movement license to move susceptible livestock around the country. Restrictions on germinal products remain.

As of 1 October 2026, there were 1,979 cases of BTV-3 in England, 389 cases in Wales and 40 cases in Scotland.