Vietnam phases out preventative antibiotics in livestock

On November 9, 2020, Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) issued Circular 12/2020 providing lists of certain antibiotics allowed for preventive use in accordance with the timeline to phase out the use of preventative antibiotics in animal husbandry. Circular 12/2020 went into effect on December 25, 2020.

On January 21, 2020, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 13/2020 guiding the Animal Husbandry Law, which provides the timeline to eliminate the use of certain groups of antibiotics based upon the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on the importance level of the antibiotics in human medical treatment as follows:

• Veterinary drugs containing antibiotics belonging to a ‘particularly important’ group of antibiotics in human medical treatment according to WHO recommendations, were allowed for use until December 31, 2020.
• Veterinary drugs containing antibiotics belonging to a ‘very important group’ of antibiotics in human medical treatment according to WHO recommendations, are allowed for use until the end of December 31, 2021.
• Veterinary drugs containing antibiotics belonging to an ‘important group’ of antibiotics in human medical treatment according to WHO recommendations, are allowed for use until the end of December 31, 2022.
• Veterinary drugs containing antibiotics other than those aforementioned, are allowed for use until the end of December 31, 2025.

Circular 12/2020 states that the prescription of antibiotics for preventive use is applicable ONLY to young animals. For pigs, this means pigs weighing up to 25 kg or from birth to 60 days old.