FAQs

FIIA members agree to adopt the FIIA policy, as the aim is to be aligned, consistent and follow best practice.

FIIA’s policy can only cover UK-sourced produce currently, although some individual retailers may be able to cover some imported products. There is a long-term ambition to widen the policy to all produce in time. The coverage on own brand products will vary from member to member as a result.

FIIA’s policy can only cover UK-sourced produce currently, although some individual retailers may be able to cover some imported products. There is a long-term ambition to widen the policy to all produce  in time. The coverage on branded products will vary from member to member as a result.

 FIIA policy does not permit routine preventative use of antibiotics.

FIIA policy only permits non-routine preventative use where infection is known or imminent; if the animal species cannot be treated individually without undue stress or harm, then FIIA policy permits group treatment in accordance with veterinary best practice.

The FIIA policy restricts use of all HP-CIAs (Category B under EMA advice) to use as a last resort, where disease is clinically present, where animal health and welfare is at risk, and where the treatment would be effective. FIIA policy allows group treatments of HP-CIAs according to veterinary best practice where the animal cannot be treated effectively or safely as an individual (eg, in the case of fish, poultry etc).

FIIA policy is that colistin is an HP-CIA (Category B) medicine and therefore the policy on use of these medicines also applies to colistin.

FIIA policy is that medicine use by suppliers will be monitored where possible, but this may be at aggregated industry level due to complex supply chains. FIIA will continue working with the industry to support the development of reporting capability.

FIIA policy emphasises that publishing data from partial or small datasets, that has been measured or collated using different methodologies, or where supply chains are complex and include a significant number of split carcasses, can be extremely unrepresentative. Such datasets should never be exploited competitively. To avoid being inadvertently misleading, FIIA outlines in its Code of Conduct on Use of Data a set of criteria which should be satisfied before data is published. FIIA is working hard with industry to improve data capture and reporting at a national level, especially in the cattle and sheep sectors. FIIA is clear that data is owned by the farmer and only the farmer’s immediate customer should have access to it.

FIIA policy emphasises that publishing data from partial or small datasets, that has been measured or collated using different methodologies, or where supply chains are complex and include a significant number of split carcasses, can be extremely unrepresentative and should never be exploited competitively. Attempting to break down antibiotic data by system can produce smaller and even less representative datasets. To avoid being inadvertently misleading, FIIA outlines in its Code of Conduct on Use of Data a set of criteria which should be satisfied before data is published. FIIA is working hard with industry to improve data capture and reporting at a national level, especially in the cattle and sheep sectors. FIIA is clear that data is owned by the farmer and only the farmer’s immediate customer should have access to it. A further complication in any aspirations to report by system is the lack of clearly defined systems in the cattle and sheep sectors.

FIIA requires an appropriate strategy relating to responsible use, which may not necessarily mean reductions and also concerns appropriate treatment of animals when necessary.

FIIA requires an appropriate strategy relating to responsible use, which may not necessarily mean reductions and also concerns appropriate treatment of animals when necessary. It is recommended that targets are a part of the strategy.