Veterinarians attending the recent Academy of Veterinary Consultants conference were updated on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) effort to ensure judicious use of antibiotics in food animals.

The key principles behind FDA’s policy direction are: 1) limit the use of medically important antibiotics to those necessary for animal health; and 2) increase veterinary involvement in decisions regarding antibiotic use in animals, according to Drovers CattleNetwork.

In April 2012, the FDA finalized its Guidance for Industry (GFI) 209 which focused on the judicious use of antimicrobials in food animals. Then in Dec. 2013, the FDA finalized GFI 213 which provides a roadmap for implementing the principles of GFI 209. As of early July, all 26 drug manufacturers affected by GFI 213 agreed to phase out use of medical antimicrobials in food-producing animals and have a timeline of December 2016 to comply.

The FDA-CVM website includes a list of affected products of the policy’s new judicious use of antimicrobials.