Dr. Vytenis Andriukaitis:

Let me add a little bit. We have two guidelines on the proper use of antibiotics in the veterinary field. Those guidelines are tabled. Next, I do not know if we are finished or not but we are on the way to finishing guidelines on the proper use of veterinary antibiotics in the human field. It will be covered in a proposal to be made to all 28 member states. Second, this new legislation requires that some antibiotics may only be used in humans. This will reduce the use of antibiotics in the veterinary field. We will see how to encourage our veterinarians and medical doctors to co-operate in understanding that some antibiotics must be dedicated solely to human treatment.

We also have big problems when dealing with out trade partners, the third countries, where residues of antibiotics in meat is the main challenge. We will detect those residues, and if they are present we will reject those goods from the European Union market. Of course we always raise questions about antimicrobial resistance and other treatment issues when we make bilateral deals with the US, China, Brazil or India. It is always on our agenda. Of course, it is a very difficult question. We propose, for example, that our trade partners introduce common obligations to reduce use of antibiotics, hormones or growth-promoters in their food industries. There has not been significant progress but it is on the table. We will discuss those issues between the EU and Mercosur countries. Of course the committee knows very well that our audits detected residues in pork in Brazil for example. We do not allow Brazil to export pork to the EU because of ractopamine, which is banned is in the EU. We will not allow Brazil to send such pork meat to the EU. I have a lot of tensions and problems on my table in the area of residues. When we speak about animal treatment, there are very strict rules about which animals are allowed in the food chain and which are not. They must quarantine piglets for six months or more to guarantee that residues of medicines are not in animal blood. We allow our control institutions to be very tough on those issues.

The Deputy raised questions about food providers, food re-formulation and the possibilities to reduce food waste. He also spoke about healthy food and how to change our behaviour and encourage people to eat more healthy food, not just safe food. Sometimes we have very safe food but with a lot of sugar, salt, trans-fats, additives, different preservatives and flavourings.

Such products are good for staying on the shelf. There is long chain of food production. How can the food chain be reduced? How do we guarantee the shortest journey from the farm to our tables? How do we provide assistance to different operators to avoid such a production chain and deliver fresh food to our tables? We also must look at food waste issues in those production chains and encourage the use of more fresh, healthy food, for example, through schemes for milk, fruit and vegetables. Those schemes are a very good example. They are financed by EU instruments. Children in our schools have the right to have fresh vegetables, fruit, milk and milk products, using Structural Funds. I encourage members to be active in those areas because public procurement rules will be changed to allow for effective actions in this area. In the same line, we have a common voluntary agreement with our food industry to reduce the amount of sugar, salt and trans fats, but that is the industry's obligation. We signed such an agreement in Amsterdam to reduce the number of those risk factors in our food during the Netherlands' presidency of the Council of the European Union.

There was a question about new treatments and incentives to create new business models, especially in the area of rare diseases, new anti-microbials and new medical devices. I am very happy that today we have good instruments in our hands in the innovative medicines initiative. It has provided more than €1 billion to industry, health researchers and clinicians to organise seven clusters. They are dealing with rapid diagnostic tests. This year, we awarded funding to an excellent diagnostic tool which helps to diagnose upper respiratory tract issues. Using markers, it can determine whether they are caused by a virus or a microbe. It is very effective. If it achieves mass production, it will also be good for our primary care facilities as they will be able to immediately diagnose whether it is a virus or not and avoid prescribing unnecessary antibiotics. It is a very excellent opportunity. Of course we provide a lot of new incentives. We started an initiative called adaptive pathways with the European Medicines Agency, EMA, to ease registration of new effective drugs, especially in the area of orphan diseases. Have I covered all five issues?