A food and farming lobby group has welcomed the summary conclusions of a joint statement by European Medicines Agency (EMA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which called for a tailored approach to cutting antimicrobial use in animals.
Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) chair Gwyn Jones said the detail of the opinion had yet to be digested, but it was “positive” the agencies acknowledged different situations required different approaches.
The two European agencies said a combination of interventions tailored to each local situation was needed. These include recording the use and tdevelopment of resistance, establishing a national target for cutting use and reducing inherent disease risk on each farm.
The opinion recommends that options should be reviewed to phase out most preventive use of antimicrobials but accepts there could be exceptional circumstances that require its use.
Mr Jones said it should be reduced in a sustainable way.
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