The Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland established a Residues Action Group in 1986 to implement the testing programme required by EC Directive 469/86. Residues testing is carried out by the department mainly to satisfy consumer concerns, meet legal requirements, respond to specific export market demands and monitor progress or detect potential problems. As a first step towards achieving residue- free pigmeat products, intakes to all pig plants were surveyed in 1986. Results showed violative antimicrobial residues were approximately eight per cent. The figure was within the ranges then reported from other pig-producing areas.
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