After examining the Finnish grounds for prohibiting the said macrolides as feed additives, the Committee stated in its opinion of 5 February 1998 that the data presented did not provide sufficient evidence that the use of macrolides as feed additives presented a significant risk to human or animal health and that, in the absence of sufficient research data on the epidemiology and spread of macrolide resistance, there was no reason for a ban on the use of the substances in question as additives.