15. The FAO and WHO Joint Secretaries of JECFA summarized the results of the 43rd and 45th Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).
16. Ten veterinary drugs had been on the agenda of the Forty-third meeting for evaluation. Acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) and maximum residue limits (MRLs) had been allocated to carazolol and to spiramycin, for which the MRLs for pig tissues except muscle are temporary. Temporary ADIs and MRLs had been established for dihydrostreptomycin and streptomycin (group ADI), gentamicin, neomycin, and azaperone. A temporary ADI had been allocated to enrofloxacin, but MRLs had not been allocated due to insufficient data. For dexamethasone, temporary MRLs had been established, the ADI having been allocated at the Forty-second meeting of the Committee.
17. Eleven veterinary drugs had been on the agenda of the Forty-fifth meeting for evaluation. ADIs and MRLs had been allocated to moxidectin, for which MRLs for deer are temporary, doramectin, and ceftiofur sodium. Temporary ADIs and MRLs had been established for diclazuril and for febantel, fenbendazole and oxfendazole (group ADI). A group ADI and temporary MRLs had been allocated to chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline and tetracycline. An ADI for abamectin, taking into consideration the presence of its D8,9-isomer when used as an insecticide in plants, had been established by the Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) but MRLs had not been recommended by JECFA because of differences in the way abamectin is metabolized in plants and animals, and differences in the estimation of intakes of residues by JMPR and JECFA. A subsequent meeting between representatives of JECFA and JMPR had recognized a need to harmonize the JECFA and JMPR assessments and proposed to continue to explore ways to do so. The 1995 JMPR established a separate ADI for abamectin itself that should be appropriate for comparison with the theoretical maximum daily intake when it is used as a veterinary drug.
18. A working paper on the microbiological assessment of veterinary drug residues in food had been considered at the Forty-fifth meeting of JECFA. The meeting had recommended that the paper be distributed to interested organizations and governments for comments. A revised paper had been circulated, and comments were being requested by 1 February 1996. These comments and suggestions would be used in developing approaches for future assessments.
19. The Vice-Chairman of the Forty-third and Forty-fifth meetings of JECFA, Dr. J. Boisseau, informed the Committee that JECFA, in its Forty-fifth report, had considered (1) an integrated approach to risk assessment that includes all potential sources of intake including consumer exposure from veterinary drug use, plant protection use, and, when applicable and appropriate methodologies are available, possible recycling through excreta that may be spread on land or recycled into food for other species, (2) sampling procedures for analyzing the injection site, and (3) the need to ensure that account has been taken of potential loss of analyte during the extraction, clean-up, and determination of the veterinary drug.
INACTIVE LIST
20. In response to a request by the European Community (EC) to improve the dissemination of information and to include additional information for substances placed on the "Inactive List" maintained by the CCRVDF, the Codex Secretariat indicated that JECFA reports included reasons why ADIs or MRLs had not been allocated and were circulated to all Codex Contact Points. Nevertheless in order to improve the circulation of such information important for protection of human health, the EC proposed that these reasons should be also included in the JECFA summary reports and in the relevant appendices of the reports of the meeting.
