Good practice in the use of veterinary drugs

A definition of good practice in the use of veterinary drugs has also been adopted ... 

GOOD PRACTICE IN THE USE OF VETERINARY DRUGS (GPVD) is the officially recommended or authorised usage approved by national authorities, of veterinary drugs under practical conditions in a manner that leaves toxicologically acceptable residues of the smallest amounts practicable. 

With veterinary drugs, data on good practice in the use of veterinary drugs are evaluated and corresponding MRLs in animal tissues, milk, and/or eggs are recommended. Such MRLs are intended to provide assurance that when the drug has been used properly, the intake of residues of the drug present in food is unlikely to exceed the ADI. 

Specialists invited to serve as members of JECFA are independent scientists who serve in their individual capacities as experts and not as representatives of their governments or employers. They also understand that the discussions at the meetings are confidential. The goal is to establish acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) (or equivalent tolerable intakes) for food chemicals and to develop specifications for identity and purity for food additives or maximum residue limits (MRLs) when veterinary drugs are used in accordance with good practice in the use of veterinary drugs. 

In summary, when an ADI is established, consideration of the estimated intakes of the relevant foods by human beings allows an assessment to be made of a safe and acceptable residue level for the relevant animal tissue(s). If the levels of residues estimated from supervised trials, when the drug is administered according to good practices in the use of veterinary drugs (only the amount which is necessary to obtain the desired effect is used), are below those considered toxicologically acceptable, then the levels determined by good practice will dictate the acceptable residue level, provided that practical analytical methods are... 

An example of the application of this procedure for testing the equivalence of the albendazole or ivermectin MRLs for which differences exist between the United States and JECFA is presented in Table 12.5. Differences between US and JECFA MRLs for albendazole are due to use of different safety factors and to the JECFA consideration of good veterinary practice. That is, JECFA considered practical conditions of use of the drug and set MRLs consistent with that use accordingly, the entire ADI is likely not to be consumed. On the other hand, the United States always uses the entire ADI in setting MRLs for edible tissues. 

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