ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The International Poultry Council (IPC) has adopted a position statement on the use of antimicrobials in global poultry production – an apparent first for a multi-country meat industry group.

 

Jim Sumner, IPC president, summarized the new policy, finalized at April meetings in Colombia: “The IPC acknowledges antimicrobial resistance is a global concern and that the poultry industry must adopt management practices that reduce the use of those antimicrobials for which resistance could pose the greatest global risk.”

Many poultry companies have rolled out antibiotic-free products in recent years in response to concerns of consumer groups and some scientists about humans potentially developing resistance to antibiotics used in farm animal production. Several grocery and foodservice chains have promoted antibiotic-free poultry and red meat brands.

The IPC policy statement could be seen as indicating the poultry industry is taking the lead among competing meat groups in responding to the antimicrobial issue. No similar global policy statements have been issued by red meat industry groups, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, which responded to a Farm World inquiry.

However, the beef and pork industries are actively addressing concerns about antibiotics use. Cattle feedlot producers in Australia have enacted initiatives specific to antibiotics. In the United States, pork and beef quality assurance programs have long promoted responsible antimicrobial use.

The U.S. pork industry will this month start a new measure of antimicrobial use, through the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS). The survey targets producers with more than 1,000 hogs in the top 13 pork-producing states – including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio. Jan Archer, president of the National Pork Board, said the results will help benchmark data about antibiotic usage.

“There’s too much misinformation out there today, and we see this as a way to provide a more accurate picture of how we are doing the right thing on our farms every day,” said Archer.

In the United States the Veterinary Feed Directive now applies to many medically important antibiotics used on farms. The IPC global poultry policy reflects a similar standard.

“We discussed and strongly recommend that all antimicrobials will only be used in compliance with national authorizations, and that those antimicrobials critically important for human medicine should be used for therapeutic purposes only and under a supervising veterinarian’s diagnosis and oversight,” said Prasert

Anuchiracheeva, secretary general of the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Assoc.