Control and monitoring is conducted in two ways: Control of the issuing of prescriptions and use of veterinary medicine, and control of illegal and undesirable substances.
Control of the issuing of prescriptions and use of veterinary medicine
All pharmaceuticals intended for therapeutic use in farmed fish and shellfish must be prescribed by a veterinarian or a fish health candidate and dispensed from a pharmacy or, for medicated feed, from an authorised feed mill.
WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology
On behalf of the Ministry of Health and Care Services, the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology in Oslo records overall sales volumes for drugs used in fish farms. In order to support the control of residues of pharmaceuticals in fish products, a national surveillance programme was established in 1989. This programme requires that copies of all prescriptions for drugs intended for use in farmed fish be submitted to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, district office by the prescribing veterinarians, fish health candidates, dispensing pharmacies and feed mills.
Moreover, veterinarians and fish health candidates are obliged to use an authorised prescription form on which information regarding fish farm identity and locality, type and amount of pharmaceutical preparation prescribed, weight and species of fish to be medicated, reason for treatment (diagnosis), and the shortest allowed period from terminated medication and slaughtering (withdrawal time). This obligatory report and monitoring system on drug use within aquaculture is at the moment in the process of being transformed into an electronic operated program.
The use of drugs in Norwegian aquaculture based on the sales of pharmaceuticals is published annually. The use of antibiotics in domestic aquaculture is negligible.
Control of illegal and undesirable substances
The programme for monitoring foreign substances in farmed fish is part of a largerEU-initiated programme for monitoring several types of animal foodstuffs. Under the terms of this programme, foreign substances are classified according to the following categories: legal pharmaceuticals administered to farmed fish, illegal pharmaceuticals, hormone-like substances, growth-enhancing substances, mycotoxins, colourants and organic pollutant substances and heavy metals.
Samples taken from 5,941 fish randomly selected from facilities throughout Norway form the basis of data in the monitoring programme for 2004. Samples of filets and liver were analysed for traces of substances. No illegal substances were discovered, nor were values of pharmaceuticals permitted for use, found to be too high in the programme for 2004.