The SPC contains the information about a product.

To give a few examples, the SPC gives:

·    the name of the product, what medicine it contains (its active substance), what animal species it can be administered to, what diseases it can be used to treat (or, in the case of vaccines what diseases it prevents), what its shelf life is.

 It also gives safety warnings. These include:

·    warnings about the product's use, for both the person administering the product and for the animal(s) the product is being administered to, information about the safe disposal of the product and its packaging, to ensure safety to protect the environment.

In the case of food producing animals, the SPC also gives withdrawal periods, i.e. how long after the product has been administered can the meat, milk, eggs etc. from that animal be consumed. The SPC is approved as part of the authorisation process for a product and forms part of the Marketing Authorisation. It cannot be changed by the Marketing Authorisation Holder without approval.