§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with his Danish counterpart concerning the decision of the Danish Government to ban the use in animals of virginiamycin; and if he will make a statement. [56273]
§ Mr. RookerAt the October Agriculture Council meeting, which was attended by my right hon. Friend the Minister, Denmark presented a paper on antimicrobial resistance, which reflected the conclusions of a conference of Chief Medical Officers of the EU in Copenhagen in September. The Minister was represented by the Chief Executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the Copenhagen Conference was also attended by two members of the Veterinary Products Committee, which advises the Government on veterinary medicines and zootechnical feed additives, including growth promoters.
§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with his Swedish counterpart concerning the decision by the Swedish Government in 1986 to ban the use of antibiotics in animals when used as growth promoters; what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the ban; and if he will make a statement. [56272]
217W
§ Mr. RookerThe matter was discussed at a meeting between my right hon. Friend the Minister and the Swedish Minister on 19 October. The United Kingdom was represented at a conference in Stockholm in September on "The Swedish Model of Animal Production" by the Chief Executive of Veterinary Medicines Directorate and the Chairman of the independent, scientific Veterinary Products Committee which advises the Government on veterinary medicines and zootechnical feed additives, including growth promoters.
Industry figures indicate that the use of antibiotic growth promoters saves about 2.25 million tonnes of animal feed in the European Union each year.