EU Imposes Total Ban on Use of Antibiotics in Animal Feed
Posted on: Friday, 23 December 2005, 09:00 CST
EU imposes total ban on use of antibiotics in animal feed
BRUSSELS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) will impose a complete ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal feed as from Jan. 1, 2006.
The last four antibiotics which have been permitted as feed additives to help fatten livestock will no longer be allowed to be marketed or used from this date, said the European Commission on Thursday.
The ban is the final step in the phasing out of antibiotics used for non-medicinal purposes. It has already banned antibiotics used in human medicine from being added to animal feed.
The total ban is part of the commission's overall strategy to tackle the emergence of bacteria and other microbes resistant to antibiotics, due to their over exploitation or misuse, said the commission, the executive body of the European Union (EU).
"This ban on antibiotics as growth promoters is of great importance, not only as part of the EU's food safety strategy, but also when considering public health," said Markos Kyprianou, EU 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."
Antibiotics have been widely used in animal production for decades worldwide. Added in low doses to the feed of farm animals, they improve their growth performance.
However, due to the emergence of microbes resistant to antibiotics which are used to treat human and animal infections, 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: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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