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AgVetLink April 2003

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Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods

Bill Jolly (Veterinary Counsellor, Brussels) and John Reeve (Programme Manager, Toxicology and Residues, ACVM Group) were the New Zealand delegates at the 14th meeting of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF), held in Washington DC from 3-7 March 2003.

Residues monitoring

At the 13th CCRVDF meeting, New Zealand had been accepted as the lead country in the development of a revised Codex guideline covering residue monitoring and control. The paper, developed with valuable contributions from other assisting countries, was presented at the 14th meeting, and was accepted as the basis for proceeding with the development of the revised guideline.

The paper contains new paradigms for the Codex system, and seeks to introduce the concept of proper risk management rather than the currently accepted practice of taking precipitate action on any shipment that contains residues above the Codex limits. This is particularly important for substances for which no Codex MRL has been set, where the current situation assumes that any detectable residue is unacceptable whether there is any risk to human health or not.

The acceptance of the paper by the 14th Committee means that any opposition can change the guideline only if scientific evidence supports such a move. There is a good chance that New Zealand will be able to bring about an appropriate change in the way international trade is controlled.

This acceptance also meant that a US paper seeking to control residues in milk and milk products (which gave us concerns) will now not go ahead. Instead, it will adopt the new paradigms and be assimilated into the 'New Zealand' guideline as an appendix.

Antimicrobial resistance

There was plenty of discussion on the draft code of practice to minimise and contain antimicrobial resistance that was presented to the Committee by the US.

Many of the disagreements in the positions of the delegations arose because of the lack of a glossary, and the different perspectives of the delegations as to exactly what was being referred to when the term 'antimicrobial' was used. Most of the time the delegates were commenting only on antibiotics, and not anticoccidia and antifungal treatments, for example. It was clear that a glossary had to be developed before useful comment could be made, and so the paper is to be recirculated as currently drafted, with a comment deadline of 30 June 2003. The drafting group will then prepare a revised version of the proposed draft code by the end of 2003 for circulation to all Codex countries, so that it and the subsequent comments can be considered at the 15th session of the Committee (tentatively scheduled for September 2004).

Substances advanced

Substances with residue limits advanced to step 8 Codex MRLs were clenbuterol (when used for approved therapeutic purposes only) and deltamethrin.

(Ivermectin in milk was also recommended for adoption as a full Codex MRL.) A limit for dihydrostreptomycin and streptomycin in sheep milk was advanced to step 5/8, and a limit for cefuroxime in cattle milk was advanced to step 5.

Strategic review of imported food and food related products

This year the New Zealand Food Safety Authority is proposing to commission an independent strategic review of arrangements controlling imports of food and food related products into New Zealand.

The aim of the review is:
"To identify stakeholder needs and expectations in relation to imports, identify major food safety and security threats associated with importing food and food related products, and make recommendations on cost effective ways in which the existing imported controls could be improved to meet stakeholders needs and expectations and the likely demands of the future trading environment".

The independent reviewer/s will undertake extensive stakeholder consultation during the year, including surveys. It is important to note that the review will also cover food related products such as animal feeds and feed ingredients because these pose many of the same risks as food for humans. The Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Act manages risks to trade in primary produce, agricultural security, animal welfare and domestic food residues. For this reason stakeholders are encouraged to review the terms of reference, which are available on the ACVM website under the 'discussion documents' area.

Although consultation on the terms of reference is closed, the opportunity to indicate interest is open as is involvement in the later part of the process.

We look forward to hearing your views. Please forward any written comments to: Hazel Dobbie, NZFSA, PO Box 2835, Wellington Email: hazel.dobbie@nzfsa.govt.nz; phone: 04 463 2661