farm,
Brexit,
antibiotic
Brexit threatens «bold but essential' EU rules on reducing farm antibiotics, warns MEP
Brexit will threaten new EU regulations on prohibiting the use of antibiotics in farming «at the altar of trade», according to an MEP. The new rules agreed on Tuesday (19 June) are part of an on-going battle against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is responsible for an estimated 25,000 deaths a year in the EU. The rules include prohibiting the use of antibiotics in feed as a preventative measure; limiting the prescription for antibiotics in medicated feed to two weeks and only allowing vets to prescribe antibiotics after a full clinical examination. This will significantly restrict prescription, storage and administration of antibiotics in animal farming across the EU. Dr Scott Cato, South West MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Agricultural Committee, welcomed the new rules, calling them «bold but essential».
«The routine use of antibiotics in farming has been identified as a leading cause of AMR and with 91% of European antibiotics administered to farmed animals through their feed and drinking water, the new rules are a monumental step in the right direction,» Dr Scott Cato said."The new rules place an increased emphasis on good animal husbandry practices to keep farmed animals healthy, as opposed to an overdependence on medication."
'Key hindrance'
However, Molly Scott Cato warned that Brexit «threatens to scupper these positive changes in the UK».She pointed to the fact that the US considers a «key hindrance» to transatlantic trade the EU’s longstanding resistance to imports of US agricultural goods and genetically modified foods. The use of antibiotics in farming in the US is at least 5 times higher than in the UK and millions of farmed animal die each year before slaughter due to disease."The vultures from Washington are swooping in, and Liam Fox is already sacrificing standards pre-emptively at the altar of trade," Dr Scott Cato said.
«Even if we do maintain hard won EU rules on animal health and welfare after Brexit, British meat and poultry farmers would have no hope of competing with products produced significantly more cheaply under intensive models elsewhere. She added: «The UK has a stark choice: will it maintain the highest standards of animal welfare and protect human health, or will it sacrifice these standards for the sake of a US trade deal?»