20/04/2010

Following a request for assistance from the European Commission, EFSA has published a technical report on the occurrence of residues of veterinary drugs in live animals and animal products. The report, which also covers other substances such as contaminants, compares reported levels with limits set out in EU legislation.

The report is based on data provided by the 27 Member States for 2008. A total of over 750,000 targeted samples were reported, of which less than 2,000 (0.27%) results were found to be over the legal limits. The frequency of non-compliant results was similar to that found in previous years for most regulated veterinary medicines.

Anti-bacterials accounted for the highest proportion of non-compliant results (46%), followed by hormones (19%), substances categorised as “other veterinary medicinal products” (18%), contaminants (14%), banned substances (2.3%) and beta-agonists (0.1%).

The highest proportion was found in pigs (39%), followed by cows (31%) and poultry (17%). However, the number of samples taken from these groups was higher than for others

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