When it comes to livestock and poultry farming, there is nothing more important than the health and wellbeing of the animals being reared. A major part of that health and wellbeing comes from animal feed and feed additives.
And when it comes to animal feed and feed additives, there is nothing more important than the safe manufacturing and high quality of the product.
But how can animal feed suppliers, traders, and end-users be certain that the animal feed additives they are buying are of a high enough quality and have been safely produced? In a global industry, with thousands of feed suppliers and animal feed producers, it can be extremely difficult to ensure that top quality feed in the country of manufacture meets the standards required in the country where it will be eaten.
Nothing is More Important than Feed Safety
As Dr Hinner Köster, CEO at Kaonne Investments and lecturer at Kansas State University, discussed in a report for the industry journal AllAboutFeed.com, “Feed safety parameters as part of food safety is nowadays the highest priority when we evaluate feed quality. Nutritional, technical and emotional quality of feed used to be the highest priority and remains important for common industry policy, however, it is now of lesser importance than feed safety.”
A recent study, entitled ‘Feed for Food’ by Johan Den Hartog, Managing Director of GMP+ International and lecturer at the University of Teesside in England, highlighted some of the reasons for increased animal feed and supply chain security when he wrote, “Recent feed and food-related safety crises (BSE, dioxin affairs) were particularly important impulses to enhance the quality programme, which has resulted in (i) the integration of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) in the GMP standard and (ii) upstream extension of the quality assurance to all suppliers of feed ingredients. By this way the quality system of the food processing industry has been adopted in the animal feed industry.”
He continues by outlining the main points that the introduction of GMP certification in the animal feed industry covered. These include the following:
- Food safety has a high priority worldwide.
- The animal feed industry, including the ingredient suppliers, is part of the food chain and responsible for the safety of its products.
- Demonstrable and transparent quality assurance is a ‘licence to produce’.
- HACCP is a proactive approach which links the feed chain to the food chain.
- Quality control of raw materials is a mutual concern for suppliers and the animal feed industry.
- Trade and industry are assuming their responsibility for product safety.
Certification provides a Guarantee of Feed Production and Supply Safety Standards
The GMP certification process is part of a trend in government and animal feed industry thinking. It has resulted in a number of governing bodies from around the world establishing common rules to standardize the quality of manufacturing and trading of animal feed. For example, the US Food and Drug Administration recently laid down rules for cGMP (Current Good Management Practice) that incorporated government legislation of standard animal feed safety. As the FDA website states, “The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Preventive Controls for Animal Food rule is now final, and compliance dates for some businesses began in September 2016.”
Similar legislation has been set up in the UK, much of which is based on EU law. As the British government website food.gov.uk highlights, “EU Regulation 183/2005 on feed hygiene requires most feed businesses involved in making, marketing or using feed to be registered or approved.”
The Bureau Veritas Group has laid out a simple guide for this European legislation, and states that, “Companies seeking to internationalize their business in Europe must be certified to a standard recognized by the GMP+ International (former PDV) organization. The GMP+ certification is also recognized by other feed certification schemes.
Knowledge of GMP+ is spreading and the certificate is requested at a continuously greater extent throughout the world. The GMP+ regulations are in a process of continuous development and improvement and changes are relevant to all organizations in the international supply chain.”
It continues, by outlining some of the categories for feed suppliers and manufacturers, stating, “The GMP+ standards have been developed to harmonize requirements for feed in order to ensure quality and safety throughout the entire feed chain. It is based on widely recognized principles of quality assurance, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP).
GMP+B1 is mandatory for the production of compound feed, but can also be used for the production of feed materials and transport. B2 can be used for the production of feed materials and feed additives, while B3 is intended for trade and transshipment.”
In this way, farmers the world over know that they can rely on a high standard of production and supply chain management from feed additive manufacturers and suppliers who have been certified as GMP+. These standards are vital to farmers who care about the health and wellbeing of their livestock and poultry. For when it comes to animal feed and animal feed additives, there is nothing more important than the safe manufacturing and high quality of the product. The Good Management Practice certification scheme helps guarantee those standards.
Would you buy animal feed or feed additives without it?
As a holder of GMP+B3 certification, AG CHEMI GROUP is a trusted member of the animal feed industry supply chain. It has been certified as meeting the standards necessary for the safe and responsible trade, collection, storage, and shipping of animal feed stuffs.
Legislation such as the GMP standard is vital for livestock and poultry farmers. Without a quality certification system, the feed industry would be open to abuse by rogue manufacturers and quick-for-profit feed suppliers. By being granted certification, AG CHEMI GROUP has established itself as a trusted feed and feed additive supplier, whose business model is based on the foundation of long-term partnerships and the provision of quality and safe animal feed products.
