WEIGHING THE PROS AND CONS

An adequate, high-quality animal health service is indispensable to animal production in the Netherlands. Modern intensive animal husbandry, with its high density of animals, needs a considerable input of knowledge, vaccines and drugs. The consumer expects healthy and especially safe products. These two goals are in seeming contradiction. Moreover, veterinary help, the necessary use of drugs, the supervision and control of AID (Agricultural Inspection Services) and RVV (Inspection Service for Meat and Meat Products) add to the already substantial costs of modern animal husbandry. From the point of view of integral quality control, the question is what changes are necessary to achieve a more effective health service. Goals for the future include: - reducing the structural dependence on drugs and additives; - substantially reducing the number of active substances used; - increasing consumer confidence in animal products.