Review of medicated feed legislation [EU Legislation in Progress]

Written by Beata Rojek (2nd edition, updated on 30.05.2022).

In 2014, the Commission presented a proposal for a regulation on medicated feed with the aim to update and harmonise rules that dated from 1990 and were laid out in a directive. Patchy national implementation was causing difficulties for producers, animal holders and the single market.

Due to the strong correlation between the proposal on medicated feed and the draft regulation on veterinary medicinal products, legislative work on both acts was being coordinated to assure consistency between their provisions. Parliament and Council reached agreement on the text of the proposal in June 2018. The final act was signed in December 2018 and entered into force on 27 January 2019. The new rules apply from 28 January 2022.armonise rules which date from 1990. These rules are currently laid out in a directive, which would be repealed and replaced by a regulation.

Regulation (EU) 2019/4 of 11 December 2018 on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of medicated feed lays down updated rules for the production, use and marketing of medicated feed; these rules apply across the EU. An important aim is to help tackle the issue of antimicrobial resistance, a growing threat to human health worldwide. The regulation introduces stronger requirements for producers and animal keepers, prohibits the preventive use of antibiotics in healthy animals and reiterates that antibiotics should not be used to enhance the performance of animals – a stance that the Parliament has strongly upheld.

Versions

• May 2022: ‘Review of medicated feed legislation‘ (2nd edition)