madam president first i would like to emphasise that the commission is fully aware of and correspondingly concerned by the threat to public health posed by antimicrobial resistance amr
in reply to the first question in two thousand and nine the commission asked the european medicines agency ema to take a lead in collecting comparable data on the use of antimicrobials in animals
the project the european surveillance of veterinary antimicrobial consumption esvac started in the third quarter of two thousand and nine
the ema has worked together with the member states eu agencies and relevant stakeholders to develop the system
findings from the data available from ten member states will be published as soon as possible
twelve additional member states are voluntarily starting to collect these data
the aim is to broaden the system to cover all eu member states
a further aim is to have data on a more detailed level at animal species level for example
why do we need these data
we need them in order to adopt a science-based approach only on the basis of this type of data can scientists properly assess the true risk of amr attributed to the use of antimicrobials in animals
turning to the second question i can assure the honourable members that the commission is aware that the control of amr requires a multi-disciplinary approach
therefore the commission consults its own services member states relevant agencies and other stakeholders on an ongoing basis for example through meetings and public consultations
the commission is working on amr in close collaboration with its relevant agencies in particular the european centre for disease prevention and control the european food safety authority the ema and the european union reference laboratory for amr
in reply to the third and last question i would like to announce that the commission is developing a five-year strategy on amr
this strategy will adopt a holistic approach and will contain concrete proposals for further action to address the issue of amr in relation to public and animal health
the strategy will be based on the council conclusions and recommendations on amr and on the outcome of the consultations i have already mentioned
work on the revision of eu rules on veterinary medicinal products and medicated feeding stuffs is ongoing
new tools and instruments to tackle amr are being considered for example as options in the impact assessment
based on the evidence gathered the commission will decide the details of its legal proposal
our objective is to present this commission strategy on eighteen november twenty eleven which will be european antibiotic awareness day
