Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) level, and (2) impact, of use of ionophores in poultry and game bird farming, including the level of risk of antimicrobial cross-resistance.

This Government publishes annual data on ionophore sales and assesses that use of ionophores as coccidiostats in poultry and gamebirds conforms to the terms of authorisation through the UK Residues Control Programme. This Government is undertaking preliminary investigations to improve understanding of potential associations between ionophore resistance and antimicrobial resistance.