The Monographs on the residues of the nine compounds contained in this volume were prepared by the forty-eight meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which was held in Geneva, 18-27 February 1997. JECFA has evaluated veterinary drugs at previous meetings, including the 12th1, 26th2, 27th3, 32nd4, 34th5, 36th6, 38th7, 40th8, 42nd9, 43rd10, 45th11 and 47th12 meetings.
In response to a growing concern about mass-medication of food producing animals and the implications for human health and international trade, a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Residues of Veterinary Drugs was convened in Rome, in November 198413. Among the main recommendations of this consultation were the establishment of a specialized Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) and the periodic convening of an appropriate body to provide independent scientific advice to this Committee and to the member countries of FAO and WHO. At its first session in Washington D.C. in November 1986, the newly-created CCRVDF reaffirmed the need for such a scientific body and made a number of recommendations and suggestions to be considered by JECFA14. In response to these recommendations, the thirty-second JECFA meeting was entirely devoted to the evaluation of residues of veterinary drugs in foods. Subsequently, the 34th, 36th, 38th, 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 45th, 47th and 48th meetings of JECFA were also dedicated exclusively to evaluation of veterinary drugs.
The tenth session of the CCRVDF, held in San Jose, Costa Rica, during October-November 1996, revised the priority list of veterinary drugs requiring evaluation. The drugs evaluated during the 48th meeting of JECFA included these compounds, except gentamicin, the evaluation of which was postponed to the 50th meeting of the Expert Committee, scheduled to be held in Rome in February 1998.
The present volume contains summary monographs of the residue data on nine of the eleven compounds on the agenda. The anthelminthic agent, moxidectin had been considered before by the 45th meeting of JECFA.
From the six antimicrobial agents, ceftiofur had previously been evaluated by the Committee at the 45th, dihydrostreptomycin and streptomycin at the 43rd, and spiramycin at the 47th meeting. The remaining antimicrobial agents, danofloxacin and flumequine had not been evaluated before.
The insecticides, cyfluthrin and fluazuron, had not been considered before.
The pertinent information in each monograph was discussed and appraised by the entire Committee. The monographs are presented in a uniform format covering identity, residues in food and their evaluation, metabolism studies, tissue residue depletion studies, methods of residue analysis and a final appraisal of the study results. More recent publications and documents are referenced, including those on which the monograph is based. A summary of the JECFA evaluations from the 32nd to the present 48th meeting is included in Annex 1.
The assistance of the experts and FAO consultant in preparing these monographs is gratefully acknowledged.
