During the concluded negotiations of the trilogue involving the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission an agreement in the field of animal health has been reached.

During the concluded negotiations of the trilogue involving the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission an agreement in the field of animal health has been reached. With success, 39 different directives on domestic, livestock and wild animals have been linked in the context of a single agreement.

The new regulation on zoonosis is the result of developing an Animal Health Strategy (AHS) in the period of 2007-2013 under the motto: “Prevention is better than cure”.

Policy makers are urged to establish rules for the prevention of animal diseases transmitted to animals or to humans and the rules for the control of such diseases. At the end of the year, the European Parliament will adopt a regulation for a second reading.

Janusz Wojciechowski, the Vice-President of the Committee on Agriculture and the President of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Animal Welfare underlines that the Regulation will have a positive impact on animal breeding and preventing overuse of antibiotics.

“Every animal owner in Europe will have to adhere to good farming practices and to use antibiotics in a careful and responsible way”, said Janusz Wojciechowski. “The new law will ensure that the eradication of diseases takes into account the welfare of the animals, saving all the animals including the homeless ones unnecessary pain, distress and suffering. Rules and obligations for farmers, traders and animals’ specialists, including veterinarians and pets owners, which must be met in order to ensure good health of their animals and to avoid the spread of disease are clearly defined. For example, veterinarians should be legally bound to inform owners of animals about the problems associated with antibiotic resistance”, adds the MEP.