§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information her Department collates on the(a) quantity and (b) type of (i) therapeutic and (ii) non-therapeutic drugs given to chickens in the UK in the last year. [150218]
§ Mr. BradshawThe Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), an executive agency of Defra, collates and publishes data on an annual basis on the UK sales of veterinary antimicrobials. These data are supplied by industry on a voluntary basis.
In November 2003 the VMD published figures for sales of antimicrobial products used as veterinary medicines, for the year 2002. These indicate that there was a slight decrease in sales of therapeutic antimicrobials indicated for use only in poultry (from 20 tonnes of active ingredient in 2001 to 13 tonnes in 2002). In addition a proportion of the 313 tonnes of active ingredient sold in products authorised for use in more than one species may also have been used in poultry, although it is not possible at this time to quantify this proportion. The figures also show that 250 tonnes of active ingredient of coccidiostats and 27 tonnes of growth promoters were sold. Although these figures have not been broken down by species, the majority of these sales were products authorised only for use in poultry. Full details are available on the VMD's website (www.vmd.gov.uk).
Defra does not collect on a regular basis data on use of other veterinary medicinal products in poultry.