EU: New regulation reduces use of antibiotics

An important EU negotiation was held about the use of antibiotics in animals. Martin Häusling, spokesman for agricultural policy for the Greens and member of the Environment Committee, was the responsible Green negotiating partner for the new regulations. He comments: "Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing global threats. The incorrect and frequent use of antibiotics in animal husbandry plays a major role here. With the new regulation on veterinary medicines, we now have a legal remedy to restrict the use of antibiotics.

The trialogue negotiations on the new EU regulation on veterinary medicines have been concluded. That is changing:

• antibiotics should only be used to a limited extent in order to prevent resistance
• reserve antibiotics to be reserved for humans in future
• each farm must collect data on the use of antimicrobial medicines

Reserve antibiotics for humans only

"It is a great success that reserve antibiotics will in future be reserved for humans. The prophylactic use of antibiotics in animal husbandry will also only be possible in absolutely exceptional cases in the future. Comprehensive data on the sale and use of antibiotics is an important tool in the fight against excessive use of antibiotics. This is the only way we can make a targeted start", says Häusling. We Greens have succeeded in making the new regulation require the collection of data on the use of antimicrobial medicines on farms".

Environmental impact of medicines not regulated

Häusling was not very pleased that the majority of the negotiating parties did not agree to regulate the environmental effects of the drugs and their production. "We missed the chance to contain water pollution or the release of dangerous substances," he says.