AVS to launch public consultation on new regulations for vet practice in S'pore by end of 2025

The Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) will be launching a public consultation on the proposed Veterinary Practice Bill, Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry Alvin Tan announced on Oct. 24.

The Veterinary Practice Bill aims to regulate and strengthen professional standards for vets in Singapore.

Feedback will be gathered from pet owners, industry professionals, and the wider public, and then the bill will be refined accordingly.

This public consultation on the proposed bill will be launched before the end of 2025, and will be available for a month on the Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home (REACH) platform.

What will the bill do?

The Veterinary Practice Bill will set out the legislative powers of the new Singapore Veterinary Council, which will be established upon enactment of the bill as the Veterinary Practice Act.

In 2023, it was announced that a Singapore Veterinary Council would be established by 2025, due to the rise in both pet ownership and the number of licensed vets in Singapore.

As pet-related services and treatments have also grown in variety over the years, the Singapore veterinary sector has become more complex.

The new Veterinary Council will be responsible for ensuring that vets meet professional standards and are held accountable for their practice.

More specifically, it will oversee the registration and issuance of practising certificates to veterinary professionals, set continuing education requirements, and accredit training programmes.

It will also regulate the standards of conduct and ethics of registered vets, and investigate and enforce against disciplinary cases.

The proposed bill was developed following a review of legislative gaps, through various engagements including a consultation with AVS-licensed vets in July 2025.

It will define the scope of regulated veterinary activities, look at exemptions for key stakeholders to perform a permitted scope of activities under specified conditions, and provide frameworks for vet registration and disciplinary proceedings, including penalties for violating the bill.

The professional standards of vets will be regularly reviewed against benchmarks from other countries such as Australia and the UK.

In time, the bill will also be extended to veterinary nurses.

New guidelines for non-conventional therapies

Tan also announced a second new initiative — the Veterinary Therapeutic Guidelines.

Now in effect, these guidelines were jointly developed by AVS and the Singapore Veterinary Association (SVA), in response to a growing demand for diverse treatment options for animal patients.

This includes novel therapies — treatments that have not been widely accepted and evaluated for safety and effectiveness.

They take new or significantly modified approaches, and have little or no established history of clinical application.

An example would be using medication originally formulated for a particular animal species to treat a different species.

Other types of non-conventional therapies include acupuncture and massage, which can be done in complement to conventional treatments or on their own.

As these emerging treatments require extra care, the new guidelines will support vets in evaluating and practising them to ensure that all types of therapy are delivered safely and effectively.

"These guidelines emphasise the need to use sound, evidence-based approaches to recommending therapies, while ensuring standards of care remain uncompromised," Tan said.

The administration of all therapies will also need to follow recommendations by AVS-licensed veterinarians, and done in accordance with the Code of Ethics for Veterinarians.

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