WRITTEN QUESTION E-1948/98

by Liam Hyland (UPE) to the Commission

(30 June 1998)

Subject: EU regulations on equine medicines

Council Regulation No 2377/90(1) stipulates that maximum residue limits must be established for any substance intended for use in food producing animals. In this regard, no distinction is made between horses bred for food production and recreational or sport horses.

Is the Commission aware that, as a result, the number of products/medicines which have been granted a marketing aurhorization for use in horses is severely restricted?

Has the Commission considered the option of introducing traceability for horses through the use of methods such as micro-chips for identification and medication passports to ensure that:

- the consumer is guaranteed protection with regard to horse meat in the food chain, and

- a wider range of the best possible treatments is available for recreational and sport horses?

(1) OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p.1.

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-1495/98, E-1537/98, E-1725/98, E-1921/98 and E-1948/98 given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission

(20 July 1998)

Horses (and other domestic solipeds like donkeys, ponies etc.) are used as "food-producing animals" in the Community. If they are slaughtered and their meat is intended for human consumption the rules of Council Directive 64/433/EEC(1), which regulates health conditions for the production and marketing of fresh meat, have to be applied.

The marketing of a veterinary medicinal product has to be authorised according to the requirements of Council Directive 81/851/EEC of 28 September 1981 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to veterinary medicinal products(2). Before a marketing authorisation can be issued for a veterinary medicinal product for use in animals that will subsequently be used as food, a positive evaluation must be carried out to see what residues from any pharmacological active substance will remain in the food products that will be produced from the animal. This evaluation has to be carried out according to Council Regulation (EEC) 2377/90 of 26 June 1990 laying down a Community procedure for the establishment of maximum residue limits of veterinary medicinal products in foodstuffs of animal origin(3).

It has been suggested that horses kept for sporting purposes should be excluded from these requirements. However, many horses enter the meat production chain at the end of their lives, irrespective of whether they were kept for meat production or recreational purposes. This is also the case with horses in Member States where horsemeat is not usually consumed since these horses are often exported to other countries where they are slaughtered for human consumption. Separation of sporting or recreational animals from meat-producing animals is not easily achieved. Any system of control would need to be both straightforward and reliable. However, simply relying on documentation (especially if such documentation just takes the form of a declaration by the horse's owner) will not fulfil these requirements. Indelibly marking with microchips, branding and tattooing have all been suggested and discussions are still under way as to whether such marking systems are likely to be feasible and effective. It is clear that any solution will have to be valid for the whole Community and not for specific Member States.

The Commission is also considering various options to facilitate the authorisation of veterinary medicinal products in certain circumstances. Any solutions will also have to consider products, which were on the market before Council Regulation (EEC) 2377/90 came into force.

Before maximum residue limits were introduced to enforce consumer protection, a system of "withdrawal periods" was used. This was abandoned as general strategy because it was difficult to control and to enforce.

The Commission is seeking a solution to the problems, which takes the principles of consumer protection into account.

(1) OJ L 121, 29.7.1964.

(2) OJ L 317, 6.11.1981.

(3) OJ L 224, 18.8.1990.