Report on the third research co-ordination meeting of the coordinated research project: 'The development of strategies for the effective monitoring of veterinary drug residues in livestock and livestock products in developing countries' (D3.20.22)

The third RCM for the CRP on the development of strategies for the effective monitoring of veterinary drug residues in livestock and livestock products in developing countries was held in Natal, Brazil, from 11-15 April 2005. The meeting was attended by ten Research Contract Holders, a second representative of the research group of the host country, two Research Agreement Holders, two Technical Contract Holders and the Scientific Secretary. The work in the second phase of this CRP has built upon the progress reported from the first phase, resulting in good quality immunoassay reagents, confirmatory methods and a number of validated methods. It is recommended that all contracts (with one exception), including technical contracts, be renewed to facilitate the completion of the work plans agreed at the meeting. A protocol for the validation of immunoassays will be provided by a Research Agreement Holder. The protocol has already been successfully applied for validation of an RIA method in Brazil. It is recommended that this protocol be adopted by all participants in the project to harmonize the validation of immunoassay methods developed. Work on the development of the 125I-radioimmunoassay for chloramphenicol has not been satisfactory. It is recommended that this work is transferred to the research group in Brazil. The meeting agreed that the FAO/IAEA Joint Division's INFOCRIS database and associated e-learning modules are a very useful resource for developing country scientists. It is recommended to proceed with the expansion of the database as planned. In addition, it was suggested that a database and bibliography of original literature on, for example, pharmacokinetic and metabolism studies on veterinary drugs and hormonal growth promoters should be included. Much of this data was published many years ago and is very difficult to access, but is of importance in the design and development of methods. Some of the results generated by CRP participants should be presented at the 2nd International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis, Prague, Czech Republic, 2-4 November 2005