91998E2987

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2987/98

by John Iversen (PSE) to the Commission

(8 October 1998)

Subject: Call for national registers of veterinary drug use

The European consumer's growing desire for wholesome and unadulterated food means there is a need to step up checks on the use of drugs in farming. Antibiotic growth promoters and the excessive use of drugs are creating resistant bacteria and, in the longer term, people could die from illnesses such as influenza and pneumonia because they can no longer be treated using antibiotics.

If national registers were set up to record the use of drugs in farming, it would be possible to compare levels of use in different Member States and thus to file complaints if use was found to be excessive in certain Member States. This would also provide a tool for conducting research into the links between resistant bacteria and drug use. A pattern is already emerging which indicates that the number of resistant bacteria is much lower in the Scandinavian countries, where veterinary drug use is low compared with countries such as the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Does the Commission not think it would be a good idea to submit a proposal requiring Member States to establish national registers of drug use in farming? At the same time, it could submit a proposal requiring antibiotics to be made available only on prescription in the Member States, which would prevent farmers from using drugs as growth promoters.

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission

(11 November 1998)

The Commission is conducting a detailed investigation of the problem raised by the Honourable Member and will inform him of the outcome as soon as possible.