Veterinary Drug Residues and MRLs

Abstract

Overview:

This essential management report offers a comprehensive, global overview of residue incidence by species and market. It details major causes, detection techniques and technology, and control and prevention methods.

Customers increasingly require objective information to ensure that what they put on their plates is safe. This phenomenon has fuelled the need for quality assurance upon which international food trade is dependent.

How do regulatory bodies around the world control and monitor veterinary drug residues?

• Identify the major causes of residues.
• Analyse the laws in place worldwide to ensure that residues are kept in check.
• Become an expert in detection and testing techniques

Executive Summary:

The monitoring and controlling of veterinary residues in animal food products is a result of the heightened awareness of consumers. They require objective information that what they put on their plates is safe. This phenomenon has fuelled the need for quality assurance upon which international food trade is dependent. A recent survey commissioned by the European Union (EU) found that food safety is a major concern of European consumers. More than 60 per cent of the 23,000 people taking part indicated that they were "very concerned about the safety of food" when it came to chemical contaminants, which include veterinary drugs.

This report provides an overview of how regulatory bodies around the world control and monitr veterinary drug residues in samples taken from food-producing animals. They include countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australasia. The international framework - as established by the Codex Alimentarius (Codex) under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - for controlling residues is also discussed, as are detection techniques.

Country chapters include information on the laws in place to ensure that residuesare kept in check, with detailsof maximum residue limits(MRts) in force and data tables, where the most recent results of sample testing are summarised.

The countries covered in this report are:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• Germany
• India
• Ireland
• Japan
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Switzerland
• Thailand
• United Kingdom
• United States and
• The EU