Feed Industry Associations launch GB Feed Materials Register website
Following consultation with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS), the major trade associations representing the UK feed industry (AIC, BAFSAM, BETA, PFMA) have agreed to publish a GB Register of Feed Materials and to provide an online platform for the notification of new feed materials.
“This is a significant step forward in ensuring the feed industry can continue to comply with the legal requirement to notify new feed materials to the industry representatives’’ comments James McCulloch, Head of Feed sector at AIC.
Within the EU this legal requirement is achieved by registering all feed materials onto the EU feed register, creating a single point of reference for all feed materials that are not listed in the EU Catalogue of feed materials.
Following the UK’s departure from the EU this register was not recognised within UK legislation and the feed industry associations have chosen to develop a GB register for the benefit of the entire industry.
“This will benefit those UK businesses wishing to place new feed materials on the market in GB (NI still follows EU regulations) and those feed manufacturers who might be looking for new materials to use”, continues Mr McCulloch, “and we are grateful for the significant co-operation shown by all associations in reaching this agreement”.
Website launched
The GB Register will consist of the English language entries that were listed on the EU Register of Feed Materials as at 1 January 2021.
The GB Register will not be published immediately as both industry partners and regulators have agreed that the contents should be reviewed prior to publication.
However, it is now possible for businesses to access, and complete, a Notification Form via the link on the homepage of the website.
Businesses wishing to notify a new feed material for placing on the Northern Ireland or EU markets, can do so on the EU Register of Feed Materials website.
"The homepage of the website carries a comprehensive guidance document on the notification process", says Mr McCulloch, "and links to the GB Feed Materials Register website will be placed on both FSA and FSS websites".
Any questions regarding the management of the online register may be sent to [email protected]. Please note that questions related to the legislation should be addressed to the relevant authorities.
The feed industry associations and FSA and FSS have now established a working group tasked with reviewing the content of the GB Register with a view to publishing the reviewed register in early 2023.
ENDS
About AIC
AIC is the UK trade association representing the agricultural supply chain sectors of Arable Marketing, Crop Protection and Agronomy, Feed, Fertiliser and Seeds, since its inception in 2003. In all, AIC represents members responsible for some £9 billion of farm trade. A significant part of its work is political lobbying and influencing as well as supporting members with technical information.
AIC Services, which is the professional services arm of AIC manages a range of services, including Assurance Schemes recognised by UK government as essential tools to underpin feed & food safety alongside fertiliser security. Currently these include:
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TASCC |
Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops |
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FEMAS |
Feed Materials Assurance Scheme |
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UFAS |
Universal Feed Assurance Scheme |
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ESTA |
European Seed Treatment Assurance |
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FIAS |
Fertiliser Industry Assurance Scheme |
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FAR |
Feed Adviser Register |
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RED |
Renewable Energy Directive |
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FAAG |
Forage Analysis Assurance Group |
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APOCS |
AIC Services Palm Oil Credit Scheme |
Press Contacts
Oli Hill
Communications Manager, AIC
+44 (0)1733 385230
Angus Chalmers
Managing Director, RDP
+44 (0)7917 603377
Author
Oli Hill
As Head of Communications, Oli creates and oversees the content published on AIC's website, emails, Member briefings, print publications, and social media. A qualified multimedia journalist, he previously spent six years working at Farmers Weekly magazine as a Senior Reporter on the arable team, and latterly as Community Editor. More recently he was Communications Manager at Red Tractor.