FEMAS was originally developed by AB Agri with the intellectual property (IP) being licensed to UKASTA in 2001. UKASTA has since been absorbed into AIC. An annual FEMAS royalty payment is in place to acknowledge this IP.

FEMAS is managed by the FEMAS Working Group which consists of a number of representatives of the various FEMAS sectors, independent consultants and representatives of the AIC executive. This group also reports to the Feed and Food Steering Committee to ensure that the other feed schemes that AIC manage have common objectives.

The scheme is audited and certified by an independent certification body, in accordance with the internationally recognised standard ISO 17065. This means that the certification body is itself independently assessed every year to ensure that the standard is implemented and administered consistently and fairly.

Ensuring that the working groups and audit body are robustly managed ensures that FEMAS is remains independent and relevant and is written by the industry for the industry.

The scheme dovetails with UFAS and with the UK livestock assurance (Red Tractor) schemes which the major supermarkets make a requirement for the home-produced livestock products they buy.

FEMAS participants are an extremely diverse group of companies, ranging from specialist additive manufacturers to food processors and brewers. As a result of this, in addition to the FEMAS Standard, which applies to all feed ingredient producers, AIC have developed a range of Modules, Sector and Country notes with specific requirements for the varied operations and products encompassed within the scheme.

FEMAS also includes a “gatekeeper” option which allows feed businesses to source non-assured ingredients and take the relevant steps to ensure their safety before trading them on as assured. Each application is considered on an individual basis by an application panel to ensure that use of the gatekeeper scheme does not undermine the principle of source assurance.