Germany: Modification of the veterinary drugs law

The concept of antibiotic use reduction is to be implemented and expanded in order to improve registration and permanently reduce the use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine, both in terms of active substances and application.

• The concept, which currently applies exclusively to the finishing of animals, shall in the future also include dairy cow, laying hen, and breeding sow farms. The use of antibiotics is to be systematically recorded and reduced on these farms.
• The relevant supervisory authorities are to be reinforced. The novelty is that, in the future, local authorities will be legally obliged to issue orders and take measures if necessary to reduce the use of antibiotics on a livestock farm.
• For colistin, fluoroquinolones and 3rd and 4th generation cephalosporins, a weighting factor is included in the antibiotic minimization concept. This sends a signal to veterinarians and animal caretakers to reduce the use of these critically important antibiotics to the minimum.

The bill also dictates rules for the implementation of EU legislation. As a result, starting in 2024, Member States will be required to submit complete data on the use of antibiotics in animals to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on an annual basis.