The pig industry has been set “challenging but achievable” targets for cutting the use of antibiotics across the sector as it continues its progress in bringing usage down.

Data collected by the pig industry through the eMB-Pigs database revealed significant strides, with overall use in pigs falling by 34% between 2015 and 2016, while use of critically important antibiotics (CIAs) plummeted by 73%. The Government’s Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance Report showed overall UK livestock industry antibiotic sales data fell by 21% to 45mg/PCU in 2016, exceeding the 2018 target of 50mg/PCU.

National Pig Association (NPA) chairman Richard Lister described the targets, announced at the Responsible Use of Medicine in Agriculture (RUMA) alliance conference in London, as “challenging but achievable”.

They will require the pig sector to cut antibiotic use by 62% by 2020 to 99mg/PCU (Population Corrected Unit).