The representatives of the EU institutions agreed a compromise in Brussels on Tuesday 5 June on the regulation on veterinary medicines, the principal objective being reducing the use of antibiotics on farms (see EUROPE 11930 and 11509).
“This is a major step forward for public health”, said rapporteur Françoise Grossetête (EPP, France). Thanks to this law, “we will be able to reduce the consumption of antibiotics on livestock farms, an important source of resistance that is then transmitted to humans. Antibiotic resistance is a real sword of Damocles, threatening to send our health care system back to the Middle Ages”, she added.
Under the new law, veterinary medicines must not under any circumstances serve to improve performance or compensate for poor animal husbandry. It will limit the prophylactic use of antimicrobials (i.e. as a preventive measure, in the absence of clinical signs of infection) to single animals and only when fully justified by a veterinarian in cases where there is a high risk of infection with severe consequences. Metaphylactic use (i.e. treating a group of animals when one shows signs of infection) should happen only where no appropriate alternative exists, and after diagnosis and justification from a veterinarian.
Reserving antibiotics for humans. To help tackle antimicrobial resistance, the law will empower the European Commission to designate antimicrobials which are to be reserved for human treatment.
Imports. The text also imposes the reciprocity of EU standards in the use of antibiotics for imported foodstuffs. “This is a victory for the European Parliament. For example, our trading partners who want to continue exporting to Europe will also have to refrain from using antibiotics as growth promoters”, said Grossetête.
Innovation. To encourage research into new antimicrobials, the agreement provides for incentives, including longer periods of protection for technical documentation on new medicines, commercial protection for innovative active substances, and protection for significant investments in data generated to improve existing antimicrobial products or to keep them on the market.
The agreement will be put to a vote in the European Parliament’s environment, public health and food safety committee during its 20-21 June meeting. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)