28.01.2022
UK falls behind the EU on farm antibiotic standards
New legislation in the EU has banned all forms of routine antibiotic use for farm animals. They have also banned imports of meat, dairy, fish and eggs that have been produced using antibiotics to stimulate rapid growth in the animals.
Antibiotic resistance is increasing at a faster rate than previously realised and, as reported in The Lancet, in 2019 it was directly responsible for the deaths of more than one and a quarter million people worldwide and linked with the deaths of nearly five million people. The overuse of antibiotics in humans and farm animals is to blame for this crisis. Worldwide about two thirds of antibiotics are used in livestock.
The new EU legislation was agreed in 2018, and since then the UK government has repeatedly said that it largely supported the new regulations and would introduce similar laws here. However, over three years later the government has still not published its own legislative proposals for ending excessive farm antibiotic use. This leaves the UK exposed and means that rules here are weaker. It remains legal in the UK to:
Campaigners are calling for the UK government to honour its repeated commitments and the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics (ASOA) has written to Environment Secretary George Eustice MP urging the government to act swiftly to improve the UK’s farm antibiotic laws in line with the EU.
Cóilín Nunan, ASOA Scientific Advisor said: “British farmers have voluntarily reduced their antibiotic use by 50% in recent years. But much larger cuts can still be achieved if the government introduces new laws ending preventative antibiotic group treatments and increasing minimum animal health and welfare standards. On the other hand, if the government pursues a trade policy which cuts tariffs on the importation of meat and dairy produced with extremely high antibiotic use, including the use of antibiotic growth promoters, then in order to compete British farmers could be compelled to reduce their own animal health and welfare standards and increase their use of antibiotics.”
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Note to Editors:
The government says that in 2022 it will be consulting on making changes to The Veterinary Medicines Regulations, including changes to the rules governing farm antibiotic use. This is a significant opportunity to influence the legislation governing farm antibiotic use in this country. Over the last five years the use of antibiotics on UK farms has fallen by about 50%. In practice, many of the UK’s vets and farmers are moving in the right direction under a number of voluntary initiatives. However, without a legal framework this voluntary progress is vulnerable to market pressures.
Furthermore, over the past two years, UK farm antibiotic use has stabilised at a level which is far higher than is sustainable or necessary, particularly in intensive pig production. Antibiotic use in the British pig industry remains over two and a half times higher per pig than it is in Denmark or the Netherlands, and over six times higher than in Sweden.
The UK’s developing independent trade policy risks opening up the UK market to animal products from countries where antibiotics are significantly overused, unless sufficient safeguards are in place. This could place UK farmers at a commercial disadvantage. ASOA investigations have found far higher levels of antibiotic use many animals in the US, Australia and Canada, all countries with which the UK is, or aims to be, in trade talks.
Outside the EU, regulatory frameworks are often weaker and enforcement can be poor, with overall levels of farm antibiotic use often far higher than in the UK. Forty-two countries worldwide still allow antibiotic use for growth promotion (a practice banned in the UK and EU). So it is essential that domestic and trade policies ensure that UK farmers are not made to compete with imported foods produced to much lower antibiotic standards.
Key stats on antibiotic use:
