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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with veterinary experts on the use of colistin and colistin resistance in animals, food and humans.

I discussed the issue of colistin resistance on 1 December with the Chief Executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate following the publication of a report on the issue in relation to China.

In November, the UK Government attended an EU workshop on the impact on public health and animal health of the use of antibiotics in animals, which included the use of colistin. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has also held initial discussions on the use of colistin and colistin resistance with other experts across government, including the Food Standards Agency, Department of Health and Public Health England, and key industry bodies.