Report for 2015 on the results from the monitoring of veterinary medicinal product residues and other substances in live animals and animal products

The report summarises the monitoring data collected in 2015 on the presence of residues of veterinary medicinal products and certain substances in live animals and animal products in the European Union. A total of 729,881 samples were reported to the European Commission by the 28 EU Member States. They consisted of 411,677 targeted samples and 19,257 suspect samples reported under Council Directive 96/23/EC, and of 3,768 samples collected at import and 295,179 samples collected in the framework of programmes developed under the national legislation. The majority of Member States fulfilled the minimum requirements for sampling frequency laid down in Council Directive 96/23/EC and in Commission Decision 97/747/EC. Overall in 2015, the percentage of noncompliant targeted samples (0.34%) was comparable to the previous 8 years (0.25%–0.37%). In 2015, the frequency of non-compliant samples was higher for resorcylic acid lactones, chemical elements (mainly metals) and mycotoxins, compared to previous years, although lower than those reported in 2014. Higher frequencies of non-compliant samples were noted for antithyroid agents, compared to previous years, except for 2013 when the highest frequency was reported. The frequency of non-compliant samples for ‘other pharmacologically active substances’ was lower compared to previous years, except for 2011 when the lowest frequency was reported. For the other substance groups, there were no notable variations over the 9 year period. This analysis should be regarded as having a certain degree of uncertainty, as it is based on partially aggregated data and the sampling plans and the spectrum of substances analysed are not necessarily the same every year.