Scotland’s Farm Minister has raised concerns over farm animal antibiotic use in relation to the UK’s free trade deals with New Zealand and Australia.
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands Mairi Gougeon says the trade deals lack ambition to tackle the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which includes antibiotic resistance.
In a letter to the UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, Penny Mordaunt, Ms Gougeon said while an article on cooperation on AMR was welcome in the UK-Australia free trade agreement, it was not to the same level as that agreed between the UK and Europe.
She said she was especially concerned “given the scale of antibiotic use on Australian farms for non-therapeutic purposes” and asked Ms Mourdant to outline what impact the cooperation provisions on AMR would have.
“As you may be aware, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that AMR is one of the top global public health threats and recent research published in The Lancet found that AMR was associated with 4.95 million human deaths globally in 2019,” said Ms Gougeon in her letter.
“We have made clear that we expect all FTAs to include meaningful action to tackle this serious health threat to human and animal life and health.”
Ms Gougeon also called on the UK Government to ensure the Scottish Government has a “full role” in all areas of free trade agreements, and said: “This is the only way we can be sure that Scotland’s interests are protected and that trade policy works for the whole of the UK.”
Both the Australian and New Zealand trade deals were badly received by the farming industry, both north and south of the border, with farm leaders warning they offered little or no benefit to British producers.
Farming leaders warn of New Zealand threat to Scottish agriculture