Risk-based approach to develop a national residue program: prioritizing the residue control of veterinary drugs in fishery products

Veterinary drugs are widely used to protect production-related diseases and promote the growth of farmed fish. The use of large amounts of veterinary drugs may have potential risk and cause adverse effects on both humans and the environment. In this study, we developed risk-based ranking based on a scoring system to be applied in the national residue program. In this approach, the following three factors of veterinary drugs that may occur as residues in fishery products were considered: potency (acceptable daily intake), usage (number of dose and withdrawal period), and residue occurrence. The overall ranking score was calculated using the following equation: potency × usage (sum of the number of sales and withdrawal period) × residue occurrence. The veterinary drugs that were assigned high score by applying this approach were enrofloxacin, amoxicillin, oxolinic acid, erythromycin, and trimethoprim. The risk-based approach for monitoring veterinary drugs can provide a reliable inspection priority in fishery products. The developed ranking system can be applied in web-based systems and residue-monitoring programs and to ensure safe management of fishery products in Korea.