Information and legislation on the regulation of residues of veterinary drugs within the European Community (EC) is aimed at harmonizing the actions by member states to improve intra-community trade and provide meat and meat products safe for consumption in the EC. The information comes from many different sources. The aim of this paper is to coordinate the separate information.

The key areas of interest are: use and abuse of veterinary drugs in meat production; EC Directive 86/469 on residues and associated legislation; development of methodology for residue analysis; preparation of reference materials (RMs) through the research programme of the Bureau of Community Reference (BCR); the establishment of maximum residue limits (MRLs) by the Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products (CVMP); the rôle of the Community and National Reference Laboratories (CRL, NRL); the rôle of the Reference Manual on Residues of Veterinary Drugs.

The relationships between the above are discussed; in particular the important rôles of the CRL and the Reference Manual to disseminate and coordinate information.