Question
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, how many slaughtered farm animals in each year since 1990 had sulphonamides present above the maximum permitted levels. - Inc tables.
Answer
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many slaughtered farm animals in each year since 1990 had sulphonamides present above the maximum permitted levels. [54665] Mr. Rooker: The Veterinary Medicines Directorate is responsible for a large scale random sampling surveillance programme for residues of veterinary medicines in meat. Under the National Surveillance Scheme samples which reflect the supply profile of red meat to the consumer are taken at randomly selected slaughterhouses and on-farm. The presence of sulphonamides in cattle, sheep and pigs is specifically monitored using a multi-residue method. Directive 86/469/EEC, which until the end of 1997 prescribed the number of samples tested for each substance, required a greater proportion of pigs to be tested for sulphonamides because they are more often used in the treatment of pigs compared to cattle or sheep. The results are as follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Cattle Greater than Sheep Greater than Pig Greater than % pigs MRL MRL MRL greater than MRL 1990 0 0 0 0 1,210 61 5.04 1991 0 0 0 0 1,207 46 3.81 1992 38 0 68 0 867 26 3.00 1993 103 0 98 0 1,193 19 1.59 1994 111 1 139 0 1,214 23 1.90 1995 109 0 126 0 1,210 16 1.32 1996 89 0 93 0 1,107 18 1.62 1997 77 1 80 0 1,135 17 1.50 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. In addition, the microbiological assay (FPT) which is used for the wider surveillance of antimicrobial compounds will identify the presence of sulphonamides in cattle, sheep and pigs where concentrations are well in excess of the permitted levels. The results from this survey are: Sulphonamides FPT 1991 to 1997--Great Britain _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Samples Greater than MRL 1990 0 0 1991 34,081 {1}64 1992 37,186 {1}49 1993 35,590 {1}9 1994 34,037 {2}10 1995 33,931 {3}6 1996 31,619 {1}6 1997 32,444 {1}5 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Pigs {2} (8 pig, 1 cow, 1 goat) {3} (5 pig, 1 cow)