- PDF Version (121K) - Print Friendly - Help

AgVetLink December 2004

15th Codex Committee on Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods

The 15th Codex Committee on Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods was held in Washington DC from 26 to 29 October 2004. Some veterinary drug MRLs were considered, with mixed results as far as progressing through the Codex system.

New Zealand submitted a paper that addresses the way in which violations of MRLs on imports should be handled at the border: Draft Guidelines for the Establishment of a Regulatory Programme for the Control of Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods. It includes an appendix on the prevention and control of veterinary drug residues in milk and milk products. The document received many excellent comments that should enable this paper to progress quickly at the next meeting.

Another major paper considered by the meeting was the Draft Code of Practice to Minimise and Contain Antimicrobial Resistance. The draft was considered paragraph by paragraph and was finalised except for the definition of the term ‘antimicrobial’. The draft definition, which was the European Union’s, could not be accepted by the USA because of the definition that exists in their current law, and the USA definition could not be accepted by the Europeans. Progress on the document was on the verge of being frozen because of this stalemate until a last minute caucus of the EU, USA, JECFA and New Zealand (Debbie Morris) reached a compromise agreement, and the very valuable document advanced to all but full acceptance.