DES MOINES, Iowa — In an unanimous vote, the National Pork Board (NPB) on June 3 approved a stewardship plan to guide and support what it has called "the responsible use of antibiotics for the U.S. pork industry," pledging to "emphasize these values in its revised Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA) producer certification and training programs in the year ahead."
"We understand the critically important role antibiotics play in both human medicine and in livestock production and know that consumers are keenly interested in how their food is produced," said Chris Hodges, NPB CEO. "This stewardship plan will shape our industry’s approach to antibiotics, finding ways for our pig farmers to improve animal health with and without antibiotics."
The NPB’s newly defined position statement and governing policy was announced at the 2015 World Pork Expo last week. In addition, the NPB intends to allocate up to $1.4 million in funding of scientific research and antibiotic risk assessment studies, producer education and consumer awareness programs.
Hodges said the most notable change will be updating its industry-leading Pork PQA Plus farmer certification program and increasing investments in research and education by more than $1 million in 2016.
"Today’s consumers are focused on their food and the role antibiotics play in meat production," he said. "By the end of 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will implement a new policy aimed at on-farm antibiotic use in food-animal production.
"The goal is to eliminate on-farm use of medically important – to human illness – antibiotics for growth promotion and to bring therapeutic use to treat, control or prevent specific disease under veterinary oversight. U.S. pig farmers will adapt to this change because of their ongoing commitment to responsible antibiotic use at the farm level to produce safe, wholesome pork in a socially responsible way."
The NPB is working with the federal government to obtain additional funding for research to add to the more than $5.3 million in pork checkoff-funded research that’s been conducted on antimicrobial resistance and alternatives since 2000.
"Producers need antibiotics to treat sick pigs or prevent illness. It is unethical to withhold treatment," said Jennifer Koeman, NPB director of producer and public health. "Over the years, pig farmers have done a great job of working with their veterinarians on using animal health tools such as antibiotics."
Under the new FDA rules, Koeman said U.S. producers will need a veterinary feed directive (VFD) by December 2016 to gain access to the affected feed-based antibiotics and a prescription for water-based antibiotics, for "enhancing performance and producing a safe, wholesome product for the global market."
"We realize that producers will face a substantial change in how they use antibiotics with the impending policy rule changes, but they can feel good in knowing that they are already doing much of what they need to do to be successful," she said.
"If farmers continue to work with their veterinarians, talk with their feed suppliers, diligently keep records associated with VFDs and prescription antibiotic use and retain current PQA Plus certification, they will be well prepared to be in full compliance."
