Minimal use of antibiotics - chicken
Level: Advanced
Requiring minimal use of antibiotics can help ensure that antibiotics are used only when necessary for animal health. High use of antibiotics in the production of animal products is associated with increased development of resistance to antibiotics.
Details
- Type:
- Special contract terms
- ID:
- 11246:1
- Group:
- Chicken
Criterion text
The supplier undertakes to deliver, from the start of the contract, only raw material from chicken produced in such a manner that antibiotics, as defined in Regulation 2019/6/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, are not used to promote growth or routinely prevent disease. Antibiotics shall only be used on veterinary prescription for sick animals or for animals in groups where disease has broken out, after clinical disease has been diagnosed in part of the group. There shall be documentation for the raw material throughout the contract period showing the total number of medical treatments, the reason for treatment and the preparations used. Documentation per flock1 in the stable section2 where production took place will suffice.
A maximum of 1 per cent of the chicken raw material delivered during each 12-month period of the contract, starting from the beginning of the contract, may have been treated with antibiotics as defined in Regulation 2019/6/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Third and fourth generation cephalosporins may only be used when microbiological and resistance testing shows that there is no effective alternative.
Coccidiostats as feed additives are not deemed to be antibiotics in this criterion.
1“Flock” refers to a group of animals kept together in the same stable section.
2“Stable” refers to a building for keeping animals: see Chapter 1(6) of the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s regulations and general recommendations on poultry farming in agriculture, etc. (SJVFS 2019:23). “Stable section” refers to a part of a stable that is separated from other parts of the stable, normally with dense walls.
Verification
The tenderer confirms in its tender that only raw material compliant with the contract conditions will be supplied.
During the contract period, the supplier shall be able to provide one of the following on request, for example:
- Use of medicinal products in the flock in question according to the Food Chain Information (FCI) declaration via the slaughterhouse.
- Summarised use of medicinal products, e.g. via barnstable records and/or medicinal product records or other documentation showing compliance with the requirement, including documentation of antibiotic use.
Proposed follow-up
Follow-up is possible by means of a control at production level.
- Extracts from inspection records, practice records, barnstable records and/or medicinal product records certifying compliance with the requirement, including documentation of antibiotic use.
- Use of medicinal products in the flock in question according to the Food Chain Information (FCI) declaration via the slaughterhouse.
Note that it may take time for your supplier to obtain the required information and that follow-up of deliveries on current contracts should be carried out no earlier than 12 months after the start of the contract.
Subject matter of contract
Chicken meat with environmental and animal protection criteria.
Information about the criterion
Note that this requirement should not be used in combination with Requirement ID 11245 as they overlap.
Environmental goals
Motive
High use of antibiotics in the production of animal products is associated with increased development of resistance to antibiotics. The use of antibiotics in the production of animal products should therefore be limited wherever possible. However, it still needs to be possible to treat sick animals with antibiotics, but antibiotics shall not be used to promote growth or prevent disease. Action by individual producers to reduce the overall use of antibiotics in production is therefore imperative.
According to Regulation (EU) 2019/06 of the European Parliament and of the Council on veterinary medicinal products, which came into force in January 2022, medicinal products containing antibiotics used in animals are subject to prescription. Routine use of antibiotics is not permitted, nor is their use permitted to compensate for poor hygiene, poor animal husbandry, poor care or poor farm management. Antibiotics may not be used in animals to promote growth or increase yields. As a general rule, the regulation prohibits what is known as prophylactic treatment with antibiotics. Prophylactic treatment is the treatment of an animal or group of animals before clinical signs of disease appear, with a view to preventing the onset of a disease or infection. In exceptional cases, prophylactic treatment may be permitted for an individual animal when the risk of infection or spread of a communicable disease is very high and the consequences are likely to be serious. Metaphylaxis is a treatment of a group of animals where disease has been diagnosed in parts of the group, with a view to treating the sick animals and limiting the spread of the disease to animals in close contact and at risk that may already be infected. This treatment is only permitted in cases where there is a high risk of transmission of the disease to the other animals and no other suitable alternatives are available.
Coccidiostats are defined as feed additives and do not pose a risk of resistance as they are not used in human medical care. Coccidiostats are permitted in this criterion.
Third and fourth generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones are substances considered critically important for human medicine by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). As a general rule, veterinary prescription of these substances in Sweden assumes that a microbiological examination and resistance determination have shown that there is no effective alternative in accordance with Chapter 2(11) of the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s regulations on medicinal products and the use of medicinal products (SJVFS 2019:32). This criterion does not include the possibility of exemption from microbiological examination, thus going beyond current legislation.
Versions history
The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.
- Current ID
- 11246:1
- Version date
- 2023-04-18
2023-04-18, Krav ID 11246:1: Changed name, was previous called limited use of antibiotics. Changed into contract terms, was previous technical specification. The requirement has been made more stringent when changing from 5% to maximum 1% being treated. Rephrased requirement text. Clarified that the requirement refers to a 12-month period.