24012-QS-Report-02-2019_A4_GB_Fleisch.indd

QS-Report: Meat and Meat Products | Issue 2/2019 QS-Report Meat and Meat Products Since 2014, the use of antibiotics in livestock farm- ing has steadily declined and the resistance situation has also improved. This is the conclusion reached by both the Status Report QS Antibiotics Monitoring pub- lished by QS in June 2019 and the Evaluation Report on the 16th Amendment to the Medicinal Products Act (also known as Arzneimittelgesetzt oder AMG) published in the same month by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL for its initials in German). Both reports attest farmers and veteri- narians a fewer and more careful use of antibiotics, as well as an increasing sensitivity to the subject. When the amendment of the AMG entered into force in 2014, the Federal Government established an antibi- otic reduction plan. Five years later it appears that the measures are taking effect: according to the Evalua- tion Report, the amount of antibiotics sold by pharma- ceutical companies to veterinarians fell by 57 percent between 2011 and 2017. At the same time, the amount of active ingredients used in the six livestock groups (rearing piglets, fattening pigs, broilers, fattening tur- keys, fattening calves and beef cattle for fattening) decreased from 298 (2nd half of 2014) to 204 tons (2nd half of 2017). The figures from the QS Antibiotics Monitoring also show a similarly positive picture. Be- tween 2014 and 2018, the recorded amount of antibi- otics applied in QS farms fell by a total of 253.2 tons, which corresponds to a reduction of 35.7 percent. USE OF RESERVE ANTIBIOTICS: NO SHIFT TO PREVIOUS STAGES The AMG Evaluation Report also shows that there are positive effects with regard to the resistance situa- tion of selected bacteria in the analysed user groups. Nonetheless, the BMEL estimates that, due to sever- al factors, the development of resistance can only be precisely foreseen after three to five years. The fig- ures from the QS Antibiotics Monitoring also outline a significant decline in the use of antibiotics, but also of reserve antibiotics (critical antibiotics) in livestock farming. Moreover, they reject the presumption expressed in the Evaluation Report, that there had been a shift to previous stages. Thomas May, responsible for the QS Antibiotics Monitoring since 2012 explains: “In contrast to the state HIT database, the QS Anti- biotics Monitoring System also collects the quantities applied in sows and suckling pigs. Accord- ing to our figures, this is not an increase, but rather a decrease. In this way we can rule out the BMEL‘s assumption that the use of antibiotics has been transferred to previous stages.” At the same time, the antibiotics reduction measured by the QS Anti- biotics Monitoring was significant- ly higher for broilers (-14.7%) and turkeys (-25.2%), than the figures presented in the AMG Evaluation Re- port (see gure). This is also due to the fact, that the companies partic- ipating in the QS scheme have been working intensively with antibiotic reduction for some time now. Antibiotic use in livestock farming in decline QS Antibiotics Monitoring and German Medicinal Products Act Evaluation Report con rm positive trend hensive picture of the situation on a farm. They can also provide trans- parency towards the veterinary o c- es. This is an advantage under the new EU Control Regulation 2017/625, which comes into force in December. This means that o cial controls, in- cluding on farms, must be risk-ori- ented and carried out at an appro- priate frequency. All information about a farm is relevant for the risk assessment. And for this purpose, the authorities can also use the au- dit indices. Therefore, the higher the biosecurity and livestock farming in- dices, the lower the risk category in which the veterinary o ce classi es the farm. This will also de ne the frequency of the o cial inspections. An access through the QS database is generally possible and already used today by 11 veterinary o ces in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg. Of course, the access is only possible, if the livestock owner authorises QS or the coordinator to release the in- formation for the authority. 40% –20% 20% . % . % . % . % . % . % . % . % . % . % . % . % . % –40% 0% –60% –80% 2014 (t) 2018 (t) Aminoglycosides Cephalosporins 1./ 2./ 3./ 4. Gen. Fluoroquinolones Folic acid antagonists Macrolides Lincosamides Penicillins Phenicols Pleuromutilins Polypeptides Sulfonamides Tetracyclines Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. Comparison of antibiotic quantities (in tons) in poultry, according to active substance groups for 2014 and 2018