EP against misuse of antibiotics in animals

European Parliament to back new rules to help fight antimicrobial resistance

Today, the European Parliament is expected to confirm an agreement reached by the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament this June on a dossier that sets out new rules to help fight antimicrobial resistance.

"Antibiotic resistance is threatening to send our health system back to the Middle Ages. This is why we have to continue to fight against the misuse of antibiotics in animals, which are an important source of antibiotic resistance, then transmitted to humans", said the EPP Group’s Françoise Grossetête, author of the dossier on the regulation of veterinary medicinal products.

Throughout the inter-institutional negotiations, one of the most important priorities the EPP Group fought for was the reciprocity of European standards for the use of antibiotics in imported foods.

"Our trading partners who want to continue importing to Europe will have to obey the same standards as us. We cannot continue to impose standards on European breeders that our partners do not respect", stressed Grossetête.

The agreement, which, amongst others, suggests restricting the preventive use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine and drawing up a list of antibiotics that can only be used in the field of human medicine, is expected to be finally approved by the Member States by the end of this year.