A report by campaign group the Alliance to Save our Antibiotics is calling for the Government to take a strong stance against the overuse of farm antibiotics, to protect public health and fight the global rise of antibiotic resistance.1

According to the report, overall farm antibiotic use per animal is about five times higher in the US and Canada compared with the UK, with use in US cattle around seven times higher. Antibiotic use per animal in Australian poultry is more than 16 times higher than in the UK, while in Australian pigs it is nearly three times higher. Interestingly, use in Australian cattle and sheep appears to be low.

The report finds that the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, which are all in trade negotiations with the UK, give antibiotics to livestock to make them grow faster, a practice which has been illegal across the EU since 2006. In 2022, the EU will ban the importation of meat and dairy produced in this way, but the Alliance says the UK Government has not clearly committed to implementing a similar ban.

These four countries also allow an antibiotic to be added to hormone growth-promoting implants given to cattle to prevent infections at the implant site. The most widely used antibiotic in hormone implants is tylosin, which is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a ‘high-priority critically important antibiotic’ in human medicine. This is because a very closely related antibiotic is one of the few medicines that works to treat serious human Campylobacter infections.

“Any new trade deals must not undermine British standards and threaten public health by allowing cheap meat and dairy produced with antibiotic growth promoters into the UK,” said Cóilín Nunan of the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics. “It’s also particularly unacceptable that a high-priority critically important antibiotic is being used to control infections caused by hormone growth promotion.”

British farm antibiotic use fell by around 50 percent between 2014 and 2018, partly due to a variety of voluntary industry initiatives. Unfortunately, recently published data for 2019 showed a five percent increase in use.2

Nunan expressed concern that future trade deals might jeopardise the gains made. “Farm antibiotic use is falling in Europe and in 2022 the EU will ban all preventative antibiotic mass medication in its livestock, which is a huge step forward,” he said.3,4

“The UK government should commit to implementing the same ban, as relying on voluntary action is not a sustainable approach for the long term. It should also ensure that trade deals set high standards for imports to protect human health and avoid undercutting British standards.”

There are fears from the Alliance that if more cheap meat is imported from these four countries, UK farmers may come under commercial pressure and be tempted to increase their own antibiotic use in an attempt to minimise production costs.

References

Farm antibiotics and trade deals – could UK standards be undermined ?

Australia has never licensed fluoroquinolone antibiotics for use in farm animals. Fluoroquinolones are high-priority critically important antibiotics in human medicine, and are still used in UK and EU farm animals.

European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption, https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/veterinary-regulatory/overview/antimicrobial-resistance/european-surveillance-veterinary-antimicrobial-consumption-esvac

The summary of new EU regulations which come into force on 28 January 2022 is available here https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3A4381220