EU Antibiotics Ban Begins In January

EU - An E.U.-wide ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal feed goes into effect on January 1. The last four antibiotics, which have been permitted as feed additives to improve growth and feed efficiency of livestock and poultry, will no longer be allowed to be marketed or used from this date.

The ban is the final step in the phasing out of antibiotics used for non- medicinal purposes. It is part of the European Commission’s overall strategy to tackle the emergence of bacteria and other microbes resistant to antibiotics, due to their overexploitation or misuse.

“This ban on antibiotics as growth promoters is of great importance, not only as part of the E.U.’s food safety strategy, but also when considering public health,” said Markos Kyprianou, E.U. Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection. “We need to greatly reduce the non-essential use of antibiotics if we are to effectively address the problem of micro-organisms becoming resistant to treatments that we have relied on for years. Animal feed is the first step in the food chain, and so a good place to take action in trying to meet this objective.”

The European Commission reported that while antibiotics have been widely used in animal production for decades worldwide to improve growth performance by adding them to feed, due to the emergence of microbes resistant to antibiotics which are used to treat human and animal infections (“anti-microbial resistance”), the Commission decided to phase out, and ultimately ban, the marketing and use of antibiotics as growth promoters in feed. Antibiotics will now only be allowed to be added to animal feed for veterinary purposes.

Source: Meat News
calendar icon 29 December 2005
clock icon 1 minute read
© 2000 - 2024 - Global Ag Media. All Rights Reserved | No part of this site may be reproduced without permission.