121. Following the decision of the Committee at its last session, the Delegation of the United States presented a revised document which had been prepared in the format of an Appendix to the Guidelines for the Establishment of a Regulatory Programme for Control of Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods. The document had not been circulated for comments due to time constraints and the Committee had a general discussion on its content.
122. Several delegations strongly supported further consideration of this important question on the control of veterinary drugs in milk and milk products. The Observer from Consumers International also supported the advancement of this work and urged the Committee to incorporate the recommendations of WHO concerning antimicrobial resistance.
123. The Delegation of Spain, supported by other delegations, pointed out that the document was initially intended to cover all species of milk-producing animals, whereas the current paper only mentioned cattle. The Delegation of the United States invited countries to provide input on the provisions for other species, especially sheep.
124. The Committee agreed that the Delegation of the United States would redraft the paper, taking into consideration the written comments and discussion at this session, for circulation for comments at Step 3 and consideration by the next session. The Committee invited interested countries to submit their comments directly to the United States.
125. The Delegations of Thailand and Costa Rica requested the elaboration of additional appendices to the Guidelines to cover all other foods of animal origin including honey. The Committee agreed to consider at the next session whether to initiate work on these additional appendices to address the control of veterinary drugs in other specific groups of animal products.
