asked Her Majesty's Government:

What targets they have set the Veterinary Medicines Directorate for 2002–03.

We have set the Veterinary Medicines Directorate the following performance targets for 2002–03.

Safety and Quality

1. Provide high quality scientific assessment work.

2. Provide high quality policy advice to Ministers.

3. Comply with the timetables for entering SAR reports set out in the plan and to report to the VPC each quarter reviewing trends in SAR reports and identifying areas requiring evaluation.

4. Meet, in full, the requirements of the residues surveillance plans.

Standards of Service

5. Comply with the timetables for handling applications under the centralised, decentralised and UK procedure set out in the plan.

Efficiency

6. Continue to collect data for 2002–03 with a view to establishing a three-year rolling average cost efficiency index. Establish a numerical baseline for timeliness of delivery from the results of customer satisfaction surveys.

Financial Control7.

Recover from industry and government the full economic cost taken as a whole of its main business activities of:

licensing and surveillance; policy work; and residues monitoring, without any cross-subsidy between these businesses.

Plan

Suspected adverse reaction surveillance scheme reports.

Enter human reports onto the database within two working days.

Enter serious animal reports onto the database within two working days.

Enter non-serious animal reports onto the database within 10 working days.

Centralised Procedures

All assessments (including MRLs) to be submitted within timetables agreed with the EMEA.

Decentralised Procedures

All authorisations to be determined within the established regulatory timetables.

UK Procedures

New marketing authorisations to be determined or referred to VPC in an average of 120 clock days; all to be determined within 210 clock days.

Type I variations

Average time to complete first assessment to be

<25 clock days.

Average time to sign off assessment to be <50 clock days.

99 per cent of applications to be signed off by

60 clock days.

Type II variations

Average time to complete first assessment to be

<55 clock days.

Average time to sign off assessment to be

<110 clock days.

99 per cent of applications to be signed off by

120 clock days.

Renewals

Average time to complete first assessment to be

<80 clock days.

Average time to sign off assessment to be

<165 clock days.

99 per cent of applications to be signed off by

180 clock days.