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<p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government maintains that leaving the European Union
with a deal is the best EU Exit outcome and has strongly expressed its opposition
to leaving without a deal, in line with the position consistently expressed by Parliament.
However, leaving without a deal on 31 October 2019 remains the legal default at the
end of the Article 50 extension period if no withdrawal agreement is agreed. Therefore,
as a responsible Government, we will continue to prepare to minimise any disruption
to the supply of medicines and medical products in a ‘no deal’ scenario.</p><p> </p><p>The
Department continues to work closely with the devolved administrations, relevant EU
member states, industry trade bodies and suppliers, the National Health Service and
our other main stakeholders to ensure that we are prepared for leaving the EU without
a deal in October.</p><p> </p><p>On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers of medicines to
the United Kingdom from or via the EU or European Economic Area setting out our continuing
multi-layered approach to ensure the continuity of supply of all medicines and medical
products in a potential no-deal exit scenario on 31 October.</p><p> </p><p>To ensure
sufficient space to store stockpiled medicines, we agreed contracts for additional
warehouse space, including ambient, refrigerated and controlled drug storage aligned
to the possible 29 March EU exit date. This secured warehouse space remains available
up to and beyond 31 October and should be sufficient to meet the additional needs
of medicines suppliers for storage space.</p><p> </p>
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