Each veterinary medicinal product (VMP) needs to be authorised before it can be placed on the market. The registration process for human and veterinary medicinal products started back in 1965 with the European Community Medicines Directive 65/65/EEC, which focused on guaranteeing safety, quality and efficacy of all available medicines. Luisa Paches Samblas and Joshua Forster, from Cyton Biosciences Ltd, discuss that the main focus for the EU has always been the authorisation of safe, efficacious veterinary medicinal products, with a high standard of quality.