The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has welcomed the publication of the UK Ruminant Antibiotic Stewardship (ABS) Roadmap, supporting its ambition to improve the collection and reporting of antibiotic usage data across the UK’s cattle and sheep sectors.
The Roadmap sets out recommendations for a more consistent and transparent approach to antibiotic usage (AMU) reporting, including mandatory data collection, centralised reporting by veterinary practices and pharmacies, and better use of farm-level information to support animal health planning.
Reliable, nationally representative data is increasingly important for demonstrating the UK’s high standards of livestock production, maintaining customer confidence and supporting access to international export markets. It is also likely to become more significant as the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement develops.
BMPA CEO John Powell said: “We fully support the objective of greater transparency in antibiotic usage across UK livestock production. With growing expectations from customers and international trading partners, it’s important that we get ahead of the game and establish a credible, comprehensive system that covers the whole of the UK.”
BMPA believes that any future approach must involve all four UK nations, with close engagement between governments, livestock producers, veterinary professionals and meat processors.
The Association is keen to encourage further discussion on how the Roadmap’s recommendations can be translated into a practical UK-wide system, including lessons that could be learned from the existing Welsh antibiotic usage reporting programme.
Read the full UK Ruminant Antibiotic Stewardship Roadmap and its recommendations on the RCVS Knowledge website.
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