EU farm ministers yesterday banned the use in animal feedstuffs of four important antibiotic products for other than strictly veterinary purposes. The ban, which will be phased in from January 1st over six months, involves "digestive enhancers" widely used in pig and poultry production to aid digestion and therefore weight gain.
Farm sources say £1 million of the drugs are sold in Ireland annually, but one of them, Virgi miamycin, is also produced by Pfizer in Cork. The other banned products are Spiramycin, Tylosin, and Zinchbacitracin. Within the EU they represent 15 per cent of veterinary antibiotic sales. The decision will be reviewed in two years.
Pfizer has already announced it intends to sue the Danish government over its unilateral ban of its product and legal action may also be taken in the European Court of Justice.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, supporting the ban at the meeting, said that "the question of a possible link between the use of antibiotics as feed additives and the increase in pathogens resistant to antibiotics used in human therapy has been a cause of concern for some time now".
"Evidence of such a link is emerging and we are concerned about its impact on human health and also the adverse effect this will also have on consumer confidence in our food production systems."
In Ireland, the Animal and Plant Health Association (APHA) attacked the decision. Mr Declan O'Brien, director, said the decision had been taken for political reasons not scientific ones.
He warned that as a result, European production of pig and poultry products would decrease and Irish consumers would face increasing levels of meat imports from non-EU countries. Over 600 jobs would be lost, he said.
The Green Party MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern, welcomed the move and called for a ban on the remaining four which were used in the same way. Ms Patricia McKenna, MEP, of the Green Party, also said she would prefer a complete ban on the use of antibiotics in animal feeds.
