Where, without prejudice to Directive 2001/82/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), antibiotics or a mixture of antibiotics are added with a bactericidal activity at least equivalent to that of the following mixtures in each ml of semen: gentamicin (250 μg), tylosin (50 μg), lincomycin-spectinomycin (150/300 μg); penicillin (500 IU), streptomycin (500 μg), lincomycin-spectinomycin (150/300 μg); or amikacin (75 μg), divekacin (25 μg), the names of the antibiotics added and their concentration shall be stated in the health certificate referred to in the fourth indent of Article 11(2).

Results show that self-medication with antibiotics is indeed a problem all over Europe and that there are quite a number of countries where a substantial proportion of antibiotics are sold without prescription, commonly referred to as “Over-The-Counter (OTC)” antibiotics.

Results show that self-medication with antibiotics is indeed a problem all over Europe and that there are quite a number of countries where a substantial proportion of antibiotics are sold without prescription, commonly referred to as “Over-The-Counter (OTC)” antibiotics.

(8) The European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS) and the European Surveillance of Antibiotic Consumption (ESAC) are Community funded monitoring programmes which aim at collecting standardised, harmonised and comparable data on antibiotic resistance and use.

According to the Council, the overall strategy should be based on risk assessment using established scientific findings and comprise coordinated control and preventive action (for example in relation to surveillance of antibiotic resistance in humans, animals and foodstuffs and its effects, infection control in health care and infection control in animal production, development of new therapeutic and preventive medicaments, etc) and research work (notably on the effects of preventive measures, the development of new antibiotics and alternatives, the best use of antibiotics, determinants which increase the risk of emergence of antibiotic ...[+++]resistance, mechanisms of the spread and development of antibiotic resistance, or best farming practice so as to improve animal health).

Key action 1 'Food, Nutrition and Health' focuses on transfer mechanisms of antibiotic resistance between animal, microbial and human reservoirs via food ingestion; development and validation of rapid and/or cost-effective detection tests of antibiotics; as well as pro- and pre-biotics combinations as alternatives to today's antibiotics.