Today, I asked the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how he plans on protecting UK Consumers from US antimicrobial resistant beef.
The UK Tory Government don’t understand just how concerned people are about protecting food standards and the potential effects this will have on consumers and our food and drink producers.
This area is 1 of the 24 devolved policy areas where the UK Government are performing a power grab as powers are repatriated from the EU. It is vital that the Scottish Parliament have control over this to protect the quality of food standards in Scotland.
You can view the video of my question below and find the full text here in Hansard.
Dr Philippa Whitford (Central Ayrshire) (SNP)
Overuse of antibiotics in animal farming has been identified as contributing to bacterial resistance. With American cattle receiving 13 times the amount of antibiotics that UK herds receive, how does the Minister plan to guard against importing resistant bacteria in US beef?
George Eustice
There has been a global effort to tackle antimicrobial resistance and, in particular, to reduce the use of antibiotics in agriculture, especially the critically important antibiotics. The UK is a leader in that and has adopted farm husbandry that has made it possible to reduce the use of antibiotics. We have also worked with international partners, including the United States, to assist them to achieve the same.