§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultations he has undertaken with(a) the manufacturers of zinc bacitracin, (b) poultry breeders and (c) farming unions about the European Commission's proposal to withdraw authorisation of zinc bacitracin; and if he will make a statement. [64030]
§ Mr. RookerWe have received a number of communications from Forum Holdings Ltd. and are fully aware of their concerns. Copies of the Commission's proposal have been sent informally to the major interested parties and a formal information letter was sent to interests including poultry breeders and farming unions on 11 December.
§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the consistency of the European Commission's decision to withdraw authorisation for zinc bacitracin and three other veterinary medicines with the precautionary principle of the Commission's guidelines for its implementation; and if he will make a statement. [64026]
§ Mr. RookerZinc bacitracin and the three other antibiotics covered by the proposed suspension are authorised as zootechnical feed additives for growth promotion and not as veterinary medicines. The proposal was made because of evidence assessed by the EU 501W Commission's Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition that the use of certain antibiotics for growth promotion contributes to the overall selected pressure for resistant bacteria. The Government have received advice from the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food and from the Veterinary Products Committee which recommends the phasing out of certain antibiotic growth promoters. This advice confirms the principles laid down in the Swann Report in 1969 that antibiotics which may impair the efficacy of prescribed therapeutic antibiotics used in human medicine through the development of resistant strains of organisms should not be authorised for growth promotion.
§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the animal welfare implications of the proposed European Union ban on the use of zinc bacitracin; and if he will make a statement. [64033]
§ Mr. RookerAn abrupt suspension, as originally proposed by the European Commission, would have been likely to cause considerable health and welfare problems for livestock. That is why we argued successfully for an extension which permits us to introduce the ban with effect from 1 July 1999, allowing producers some time to adapt to the loss of zinc bacitracin.