§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the impact on the poultry industry of the proposed ban on Avoparcin by the European Commission; and if he will make a statement. [11640]
§ Mrs. BrowningAvoparcin has been used as a dietary enhancer in the European Community for more than 20 years. Although there are alternative products available, the British Poultry Meat Federation considers, that the potential loss of production could amount to between £10 million and £20 million a year in the UK.
Avoparcin has been assessed on a number of occasions by the UK's independent scientific veterinary products committee and by the EU Commission's scientific committee on animal nutrition. In 1995, Denmark and Germany introduced unilateral bans on its use in animal feed as a result of work by the Danish veterinary laboratory which purported to establish a link between the use of Avoparcin in animal feed and resistance to Vancomycin in the treatment of humans. Danish and German data were examined by the SCAN, which agreed that the data identified the existence of what might, with the benefit of further studies, prove to be a hazard but concluded that the data failed to establish any risk associated with that potential hazard. The VPC agreed. The UK therefore opposed a ban on use, but fully supported the EU Commission's proposal to set up a programme to examine the problem of the development of antibiotic resistance in humans and animals. The proposed ban was approved by qualified majority in 671W standing committee in Brussels on 19 December with the UK voting against; subject to formal adoption of the amending directive by the European Commission, the ban will enter into force on 1 April 1997.