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<p>The Government maintains that leaving the European Union with a deal is the best
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>The Department continues to work
closely with the devolved administrations, 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>On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers
of medicines to the United Kingdom from or via the EU or wider European Economic Area
(EEA) 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. Further details can be found at the following link:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/medicines-and-medical-products-supply-government-updates-no-deal-brexit-plans"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/medicines-and-medical-products-supply-government-updates-no-deal-brexit-plans</a></p><p>We
recognise that some medical radioisotopes have a short shelf life and cannot be stockpiled.
Therefore, as part of the Department’s contingency planning ahead of a possible March/April
2019 ‘no deal’ scenario, where medical radioisotope products were imported to the
UK from the EU or EEA via road haulage and roll-on, roll-off sea, road and rail routes,
we asked suppliers to ensure that they had plans in place to air freight those products
to avoid any border delays that may have arisen in a no-deal scenario. We worked extensively
with these suppliers to ensure plans were in place and are continuing to do so, to
ensure that robust contingency arrangements continue to be in place ahead of a possible
‘no deal’ EU exit on 31 October.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has not had discussions
with the Civil Aviation Agency in relation to this issue as they are the Government’s
expert arm’s length body for the safety, security and economic regulation of civil
aviation in the UK. We are, however, working very closely with the Department for
Transport.</p>
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