Microsoft word - hcr1019.doc

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
EXPRESSING THE CONCERN OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY THAT THE FOOD SUPPLY IN THIS STATE HAS BEEN NONTHERAPEUTIC ANTIBIOTICS IN ANIMAL FEED WITH THE INCREASING DANGER THAT RESISTANT STRAINS OF BACTERIA MAY PASS FROM ANIMALS TO HUMANS. Subtitle
WHEREAS, many drugs used to treat humans also end up in livestock feed, 25 including amoxicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, neomycin, penicillin and 26 tetracycline; and 27 28 WHEREAS, according to the United States Food and Drug Administration, 29 national and international health organizations have seen evidence that use 30 of antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals could lead to the emergence 31 of drug-resistant bacteria that can harm humans; and 32 33 WHEREAS, salmonella and campylobacter can exist in the digestive tract 34 of food-producing animals without causing illness, but people can suffer 35 severe illness after consuming these bacteria in meat, milk or egg; and 36 *CDW175* 03062003MGF1217.CDW175
WHEREAS, in 1997, the World Health Organization recommended that the 2 use of any antimicrobial agent for growth promotion in animals be terminated 3 if it is used in human therapies or known to select for cross-resistance to 4 antimicrobials used in human medicine; and 5 6 WHEREAS, use of antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals may lead 7 to the emergence of bacterial pathogens that are resistant to drugs used to 8 treat human illness, potentially making human illnesses more difficult to 9 treat, 10 11 12 NOW, THEREFORE, 13 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE EIGHTY-FOURTH GENERAL 14 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, 15 16 That the General Assembly urges farmers in Arkansas to reduce and 17 eventually eliminate the use of nontherapeutic antibiotics in animal feed. 18 19 (1) No new antibiotics should be approved for agricultural use unless 21 the drug sponsor can provide convincing evidence that the use of the drug in 22 this manner presents no appreciable risk to human health; 23 (2) Sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics in farm animals should be 24 phased out as rapidly as possible, unless the drug sponsor can provide 25 convincing evidence that the use of the antibiotic in question presents no 26 appreciable risk to human health; 27 (3) Agricultural use of antibiotics should be limited to short-term 28 use under the care of a licensed veterinarian unless the drug sponsor can 29 show that the antibiotic in question is not used in human populations, is not 30 medically related to such drugs, and does not select for multi-drug 31 resistance in bacteria; and 32 (4) Information about alternatives to the use of antibiotics to 33 maintain livestock health and growth rates should be developed and 34 disseminated among the agricultural and veterinary community. 35 36 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the University of Arkansas Cooperative 1 Extension Service is requested to create a program for tracking the use of 2 nontherapeutic antibiotics in animal feed, for analyzing the affect on those 3 antibiotics on animals and humans, and educating the public regarding the 4 danger of nontherapeutic antibiotics in animal feed. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Source: ftp://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/2003/PDF/HCR1019.pdf