2023 23LSO-0688
STATE OF WYOMING
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. HJ0011
Animal Drug Availability-Wyoming Agriculture.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Strock, Allemand, Davis,
Neiman, Slagle, Sommers and Winter and Senator(s) Boner, Ide and Scott
A JOINT RESOLUTION
for
1 A JOINT RESOLUTION requesting the United States Congress to
2 enact legislation or make other necessary policy changes to
3 allow agricultural producers to directly access medically
4 important antibiotics to address the health care needs of
5 livestock.
6
7 WHEREAS, the Animal Drug Availability Act of 1996 authorized
8 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to promulgate a
9 veterinary feed directive (VFD) and in 2015 the FDA did
10 implement regulations in 21 C.F.R. Part 558 to specify the
11 use of medically important antibiotics in feed or water for
12 food-producing animals; and
13
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1 WHEREAS, the FDA has proposed amending the VFD to
2 fundamentally change how medically important antibiotics may
3 be accessed by agricultural producers by eliminating the use
4 of important antibiotics for production purposes such as
5 growth promotion and limiting the therapeutic uses to
6 prevent, control and treat specifically identified animal
7 diseases; and
8
9 WHEREAS, the final amended rule to change the VFD will be
10 implemented on June 11, 2023 and will require VFD antibiotics
11 that are used in animal water or feed to be dispensed and
12 used under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian; and
13
14 WHEREAS, the regulation of medically important antibiotics
15 for use in animal water and feed has been ongoing since 2015
16 and the newly amended regulations will remove important
17 antibiotics from being offered over-the-counter to
18 agricultural producers; and
19
20 WHEREAS, the regulation of medically important antibiotics
21 will continue to keep important antibiotics out of the hands
22 of Wyoming agricultural producers, which will cause delays in
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 2023 STATE OF WYOMING 23LSO-0688
1 obtaining VFD antibiotics to address the immediate health
2 needs of livestock and food-producing animals; and
3
4 WHEREAS, the requirement for agricultural producers to engage
5 the services of a licensed veterinarian in order to obtain
6 medically important antibiotics will make it increasingly
7 difficult for Wyoming agricultural producers to promptly care
8 for their livestock when a veterinarian is unavailable to
9 supervise or prescribe important antibiotics; and
10
11 WHEREAS, agricultural producers in the state of Wyoming are
12 well versed in managing the health care needs of their
13 livestock and the provision of medically important
14 antibiotics to livestock should not be left to veterinarians
15 who lack knowledge of specific herd and animal needs.
16
17 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE
18 LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING:
19
20 Section 1. That the Legislature of the State of Wyoming
21 requests that the United States Congress enact legislation or
22 make other necessary policy changes to allow agricultural
23 producers to continue to access medically important
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1 antibiotics for their livestock over-the-counter and to
2 remove the requirement that the use of medically important
3 antibiotics be supervised and prescribed by a licensed
4 veterinarian.
5
6 Section 2. That the Secretary of State of Wyoming
7 transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the
8 United States, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
9 of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress,
10 to the Wyoming Congressional Delegation and to the
11 Commissioner of Food and Drugs of the United States Food and
12 Drug Administration.
13
14 (END)
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