Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage farming methods which reduce the use of antibiotics.

In response to the AMR Review chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill (May 2016), the government set a target to reduce the overall veterinary use of antibiotics in UK livestock from 62 mg/kg (2014 data) to 50 mg/kg by 2018. The government also committed to working with the livestock industry to set sector specific targets for further reductions in future veterinary antibiotic usage. The intention for the sector targets was that future reductions should be greatest where there was most scope, while safeguarding animal health and welfare.

The government’s Veterinary Antibiotic Sales and Surveillance Report published by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate in October 2017 shows sales of antibiotics for use in food-producing animals has dropped by 27%, from 62 mg/kg in 2014 to 45mg/kg in 2016, surpassing the government’s target of 50 mg/kg two years ahead of schedule.

Also in October, veterinary professionals and the livestock industry published stretching targets for a reduction in antibiotic usage in the following sectors: beef, dairy, egg, fish, gamebird, pig, poultry and sheep. The targets were developed in collaboration with government and are centred around the principle that ‘prevention is better than cure’. They are available here: http://www.ruma.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/RUMA-Targets-Task-Force-Report-2017-FINAL.pdf.

To date the meat poultry section is leading the way with a 71% reduction in antibiotic usage between 2012 and 2016, whilst achieving an 11% increase in productivity over the same period.