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Written question asked by Duke of Montrose (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Henley (Conservative) on Tuesday, 12 July 2011.

Livestock: Antibiotics

Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the categories and quantities of antibiotics permitted in the rearing of livestock and fish; what records they hold of antibiotics used for various species; and what quantities of which antibiotics were used for each species.
Answer

Antimicrobials which have a maximum residue limit (MRL) may be used to treat food producing species, including livestock and farmed fish. Veterinary medicines which are authorised for use in the UK are listed on the product information database on the VMD website http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/ProductInformationDatabase/. The details include the name of the active substance, target species and the therapeutic group eg antimicrobial. From this information, the categories of antibiotics authorised for use in different food species can be established. Amounts of antimicrobials sold in the UK are reported by class of active ingredient and published annually in arrears on the Veterinary Medicines Directorate Website at www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/public/antimicrobial_pubs.aspx. It is not possible to present the sales quantity of each antimicrobial per food producing species because products may be authorised for a number of different species and the indicated species may be a mix of food species and companion animals. The tables below set out data from 2009 drawn from the 2010 sales report, expressed as tonnes of active ingredient, to show: sales for products authorised for use only in food species, only in non-food species and combined food and non-food species use; total sales according to class of the antimicrobial; and total sales according to the food species.

Sales for products authorised for use only in food species, only in non-food species and combined food and non-food species use (from table 2 in the 2010 report)
Indicated for food species only 349
Indicated for non-food animals only 34
Indicated for a combination of both food and non-food animals 19
Total sales according to class of the antimicrobial (from tables 3, 4, 6 and 8 in the 2010 report)
Therapeutic antimicrobials
Tetracyclines 177
Trimethoprims/Sulphonamides 73
Beta-lactams 76
Aminoglycosides 19
Macrolides 39
Fluoroquinolones 2
Other 16
Therapeutic antiprotozoals 3
Therapeutic antifungals 7.6
Coccidiostats 234
Total sales according to the food species (from table 12 in the 2010 report)
Cattle only products 11
Pig only products 62
Poultry only products 37
Sheep only products <1
Fish only products 3
Pig and poultry combined only 205
Multi species products in food animals only 31

Data for 2010 are currently being collected prior to publication later this year.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
10605; 729 c164-6WA
Session
2010-12
Subjects
Antibiotics Fish Livestock
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk