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AgVetLink: Number 56, June 2006

Codex Update

Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance

The Codex Alimentarius Commission has agreed in principle to establish an ad hoc task force to consider antimicrobial resistance with a focus on human health. A draft terms of reference has been circulated with the final version to be agreed at the next meeting in early July.

The general focus of this work is to produce science-based guidance on managing potential antimicrobial resistance in humans arising from food. The scope is likely to cover antimicrobials used in agriculture, including those used on plants as well as those used on animals (including aquaculture).

The task force is expected to operate over a defined period, probably in the range of four to five years. Given the size of the job, the work will have to be prioritised after identifying the antibiotics most critical to humans. The task force will have to agree on a policy for risk assessment and it has the ability to seek independent scientific advice including risk assessments. The resulting guidance provided will be in the form of specific risk management advice, which has to take into account the agricultural need for antimicrobials.

This work has the potential to establish some internationally agreed principles for managing antimicrobial resistance against specific drugs and to provide valuable information needed for individual countries to make risk management decisions. There will be opportunities for New Zealand-based organisations to have input via our representation in Codex.

16th Codex Committee on Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods

The 16th Codex Committee on Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods was held in Cancun, Mexico, from 8 to 12 May 2006, and was attended by Dr Neil Kennington and Dr Bill Jolly from NZFSA.

The following veterinary drug maximum residue limits (MRLs) were progressed further in the Codex system.

To step 8:

Trichlorofon - Cattle milk

Pirlimycin - Cattle tissues and milk

Cypermethrin and alpha-cypermathrin - Cattle and sheep tissues

Doramectin - Cattle milk

To step 5:

Colistin - Cattle, sheep, goat, pig, chicken, turkey and rabbits

Ractopamine - Cattle and pig tissues

Not progressed and retained at the current step in the process were:

Flumequne – Shrimp

Erythromycin - Chicken and turkey

Melengesterol acetate - Cattle tissues

Triclabendazole - Cattle, sheep and goat tissues

New Zealand leads a working group that has proposed The Design and Implementation of National Regulatory Food Safety Assurance Programmes Associated with the Use of Veterinary Drugs in Food Producing Animals. This guideline updates the current guideline dealing with residue programmes and responses not only at the national level but at borders. The revision, which focuses on the use of a risk-based approach, was progressed to the next step in the process.

There is ongoing work on prioritising veterinary drugs for assessment of MRLs. A number of compounds causing trade issues have been proposed. The major barrier remains the availability of information meeting current standards required to set a formal Codex MRL. No significant progress was made on alternative ways to set internationally agreed residue levels for those drugs where acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) and MRLs cannot be set. The issue affects a large number of older drugs that have a history of safe use and, as a result, the working group on veterinary drugs without an ADI/MRL has been re-established.