5059 (2025). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister for Food Safety

5059 (2025). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister for Food Safety: What progress, if any, has been made in the quarter July to September 2024 to ‘Develop a national programme or standard for AMS in animal health’ under ‘Objective 4: Antimicrobial stewardship’ within the New Zealand Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan 2017?

Hon Andrew Hoggard: I refer the member to the response WPQ 68109 (2024) which stated that during this quarter, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) would set a timeframe to review the existing ‘Prudent Use of Antimicrobials on Animals and Plants MPI Directive’ by June 2025. This document provides direction on the prudent use of antimicrobials in relation to animals and plants, in accordance with Objective 4 of the New Zealand Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, and can be accessed here: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/26596-Prudent-use-of-antimicrobials-on-animals-and-plants MPI has agreed to review the existing ‘Prudent Use of Antimicrobials on Animals and Plants MPI Directive’ by June 2025, with commencement by February 2025. Updating this directive will help manufacturers, suppliers, prescribers, and users of antimicrobials understand MPI’s current expectations around prudent use, and will contribute to a wider understanding of antimicrobial stewardship.