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Hormonal growth promotants

Hormonal growth promotants or ’HGPs' are sometimes used to enhance meat production (growth) in livestock. Their use in New Zealand is tightly controlled and there is no scientific evidence of any detrimental impact on human health through the consumption of meat and meat products that have been produced using approved HGPs.

What hormonal growth promotants are

Hormones are substances produced in the body to stimulate many kinds of cells or tissues into a specific physiological response. They can also be synthetically produced in the laboratory.

Synthetically produced hormones are sometimes used to artificially enhance meat production (growth) in livestock. These hormones are known as hormonal growth promotants or ’HGPs'. They may be exact copies of natural substances normally produced in animals, or substances that mimic some of the actions of the natural hormones.

HGPs are used as quality enhancers to boost growth in some food animals. In many markets, eg, the USA and Australia, they are considered safe and are used extensively, but in the European Union they are banned. To protect the New Zealand meat trade to the EU their use is strictly controlled in New Zealand, so that meat from implanted animals is not sent to the EU.

How hormonal growth promotants are used

Hormonal growth promotants approved in New Zealand are registered only for beef production. Use in poultry for example, has never been approved. They are administered by implantation behind the animal's ear. They can only be administered by a veterinarian, a trained technician employed by a veterinarian or under the direct supervision of either.

Rules for use of Hormonal growth promotants on cattle

There are very particular specifications for farmers and veterinarians about how HGPs are implanted and how those animals are identified:

• The implant itself must only be implanted under the skin of the animal's ear;

• All implanted cattle must be identified prior to the HGP implantation with our approved orange HGP ear tag, with HGP doses noted; and with a primary tag used under the Animal Health Board (AHB) or the Livestock Improvement Corporation MINDA identification systems. These tags must be attached to the animal before HGP implantation, by the owner or person in charge of the cattle;

• Cattle which lose any of these tags must be retagged in accordance with the approved animal specification;

• Our approved orange ear tag must not be used for any other purpose other than identifying HGP treated cattle.

• Auditable records must be maintained for at least four years by owners or persons in charge of HGP treated cattle and veterinarians.

• The records cover

• the HGP administered to the cattle (product name, doses) and the date of implantation;

• the name of the owner or person in charge of the cattle and the name of the veterinarian or trained technician who administered or supervised the HGP implantation;

• the identification numbers (AHB herd number or Livestock Improvement Corporation participant code and individual animal number) of each HGP treated animal;

Hormonal growth promotants forms and database

Hormonal growth promotants – specifications [PDF: 152k 10 pages]

Importation of hormonal growth promotants – policy

How hormonal growth promotant use is controlled

We regularly undertake audits on farms, at veterinary practices and at slaughter premises to verify that the requirements for use of HGPs are being met. Implanted animals are registered on a national database and the animal tag number is checked off at slaughter.

Non compliance with the requirements invokes a range of regulatory responses depending on the results of the investigation; movement control imposed on the farm is common.

It is an offence under the Animal Products Act 1999 to fail to comply with our requirements for implantation and for record keeping. Fines of up to $20,000 for individuals and $100,000 for farms run as companies are applicable.

Are hormonal growth promotants safe?

Today's consumers want a diversity of quality food produced to high safety standards at affordable prices. HGPs can help to deliver this, but they are perceived by some consumers, particularly in Europe, as unnatural ’additives' despite some being naturally occurring organic substances that are present in all meat whether or not the animals have been implanted with the veterinary product.

There is no scientific evidence of any detrimental impact on human health through the consumption of meat and meat products that have been produced using approved HGPs.

It is our policy that consumers should be provided with labelling information where there is a demonstrated food safety risk so consumers can make informed choices about food matters. We don’t consider that approved HGPs have any demonstrable food risks and as such meat is not required by law to be so labelled for sale in NZ.

Page last updated: October 2007