The main sticking point for the NFU is the difference between UK and EU regulations on the “preventative” use of antibiotics. This is when no disease has been diagnosed, but drugs are administered anyway to stop potential infections.
Because of the concerns around superbugs, EU rules lay down strict conditions for this type of drug use, including that only individual animals are dosed, not entire herds or flocks.
In the UK, however, current regulations can allow for preventative dosing to be administered to entire herds of healthy farm animals.
In a previously unpublished “position paper” sent to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) late last year, the NFU told officials that tougher EU rules “can act as a serious barrier to animal health and welfare, preventing the rapid treatment of a flock or herd of animals exposed to disease”.
It also highlighted the fact that EU rules place tight restrictions on the so-called “metaphylactic” treatment of livestock. This is when groups of healthy animals are given antibiotics after some of the herd or flock has been diagnosed with disease. The practice is allowed in the UK, the NFU said, and it should remain that way.
The farming union said that existing UK regulations “protect animal health and welfare whilst mitigating against the risk of AMR [antimicrobial resistance]”. It voiced concern that the EU may attempt to include elements of the tougher EU regime as part of the trade deal.
It concluded that “veterinary medicines, and particularly provisions relating to antimicrobial resistance, should be outside the scope of any SPS agreement”.
Cóilín Nunan, scientific advisor at the Alliance to Save Antibiotics, said the NFU’s lobbying efforts were “disappointing”. He told us: “Groups of healthy animals should never be fed antibiotics as we know this leads to avoidable antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics in farming should be used primarily for treating individual sick animals.”