Coming in the wake of a number of feed and meat contamination scares in Europe in recent years, the new regulation strengthens control of all types of additives in animal feed and completes the EU´s drive to phase out antibiotics as growth promoters.
The EU has already banned antibiotics used in human medicine from being added to animal feed. The new Regulation completes this ban on antibiotic growth promoters in feed by prohibiting the use of four substances:
* monensin sodium
* salinomycin sodium
* avilamycin
* flavophospholipol
The Scientific Steering Committee of the EU recommended the progressive phasing out of the use of all antibiotics as growth promoters. According to a study by the European Federation of Animal Health (FEDESA), in 1999 farm animals consumed 4700 tonnes (35%) of all the antibiotics administered in the European Union, while humans consumed 8500 tonnes (65%). Of the antibiotics that were given to animals, 3 900 tonnes (or 29% of the total usage) were administered to help sick animals recover from disease, while 786 tonnes (or 6% of the total usage) were given to farm animals in their feed as growth promoters. The survey estimates that the amount of antibiotics used as growth promoters fell by 50% since 1997, when animals consumed around 1600 tonnes as feed additives.
The new Regulation represents both a strengthening and a streamlining of the laws on safety evaluation and marketing authorisation of feed additives. Under the Regulation only additives that have been through an authorisation procedure can be put on the market, used or processed. Authorisations are for specific animal species and with a maximum dosage allowance. Authorisations of new feed additives are for a ten year period only. Companies marketing feed additives authorised under existing legislation would have to apply for re-evaluation and re-authorisation within the next seven years. The new rules require that companies demonstrate the additive's positive effect for the animal (efficacy) and the absence of risk for human health, animal health and the environment (safety). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will be responsible for conducting these evaluations.
The Regulation covers all types of additives not just antibiotic growth promoters. These are divided additives into five broad categories:
* Technological additives (e.g. preservatives)
* Sensory additives (e.g. flavours, colorants)
* Nutritional additives (e.g. vitamins)
* Zootechnical additives (e.g. gut flora improvers, non-microbial growth promoters)
* Coccidiostats (additives to prevent poultry disease)
Maximum residue limits (MRLs) will be established for some feed additives where it proves necessary. A post-monitoring system as well as regular testing of foodstuffs, as is already common practice, would assure that these are observed.
Approximately 120 million tonnes of feeding stuffs are annually produced in the EU. Initially, the rules on animal feed from the 1970's put the emphasis on furthering productivity of livestock farming, facilitating the free circulation of feeding stuffs in the internal market and providing information to the stock breeders on feeding stuffs' characteristics. Today emphasis has shifted more towards the protection of human and animal health and to environmental protection.
Weblinks:
Animal Feed Safety Legislation in EU
EU Strategy on anti-microbial resistance
Pig Health
4 August 2003
Original web page at American Association of Swine Veterinarians
