Trevor Sargent
Ceist:171 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if the policy of adding antibiotics to animal feed is to end. [18969/01]
Written Answers. - Animal Feedstuffs.
Antibiotics, used for growth promotion purposes, are regulated under EU legislation. Currently four antibiotics are authorised for this purpose, while four other products were banned in 1999 because of growing concerns about the development of resistance to these substances and to cross-resistance to similar substances used in human and animal medicine.
Of the four antibiotics currently authorised none are used for human or animal therapy. It is the policy of the EU Commission to phase out the use of antibiotics for growth promotion purposes and I support this approach.