---
title: "Withdrawal period (temps d’attente) · Treats"
description: "The withdrawal period is the minimum time, set for each treatment, during which food from a treated animal, such as meat, milk or eggs, may not be placed on the market."
url: https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/temps-d-attente/
lang: en-GB
updated: 2026-11-08
---

[Glossary](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/)

# Withdrawal periodtemps d’attente

The withdrawal period is the minimum time, set for each treatment, during which food from a treated animal, such as meat, milk or eggs, may not be placed on the market.

For a medicine used within its marketing authorisation, the withdrawal period is stated in the [SPC](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/rcp/). Outside the marketing authorisation, under the [cascade](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/cascade/), the vet sets the withdrawal period, using the minimums in article 115 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6\. For meat and offal from food-producing mammals and poultry, the minimum is 1.5 times the longest SPC period, or 28 days if the medicine is not authorised for food-producing species. For milk, the minimum is 1.5 times that period, or 7 days if the medicine is not authorised for that use. For eggs the same rule applies, with a minimum of 10 days. Periods are rounded up to the next whole number of days.

For equine species, article 115 sets six months for substances on a list adopted by implementing act. Recital 25 of the regulation says vets should prescribe an appropriate withdrawal period.

## Sources

* [Regulation (EU) 2019/6, articles 112 and 115 (EUR-Lex)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019R0006)
* [Regulation (EU) 2019/6 (EUR-Lex)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019R0006)

 Checked on 8 November 2026 · by [Amir Davies](https://www.treats.vet/en/about/amir-davies/)

## See also

* [Cascade](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/cascade/) The cascade is the derogation that lets a vet, exceptionally and on their own responsibility, prescribe a medicine outside its marketing authorisation when no authorised product exists for the species and condition (articles 112 to 114 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6).
* [RCP](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/rcp/) The RCP, or SPC (summary of product characteristics), is the official document attached to a veterinary marketing authorisation that sets out the medicine’s composition, target species, indications, dosage, contraindications and withdrawal periods (article 35 of Regulation (EU) 2019/6).
* [AMM](https://www.treats.vet/en/glossary/amm/) The AMM is the marketing authorisation a veterinary medicine needs before it can be sold, granted in France by the ANMV or at EU level by the European Commission.