27/02/2018: Feed for thought: Celebrating GMP+ International’s 25th anniversary

by Rhiannon White, International Aquafeed

In November 2017, global leader for feed safety certification, GMP+ International, invited around 100 delegates from around the world to a special conference that celebrated its 25th anniversary

 

It was fittingly held at The Beurs van Berlage in the centre of Amsterdam, a historic venue of 19th to 20th century corn and grain exchange. Over the two days, rather than grain itself, over 20 experts exchanged their insights about challenges, solutions and future aims for feed safety and sustainability, through a mixture of short presentations and lively debates.

Alongside the conference, delegates were treated to a walk-in exhibition of artist and photographer, Laurent Bellec’s imaginative and unique photography that he has spent the last seven years producing. His photographs capture feed mills in all their glory from around the globe and his publications offer a thought-provoking vision of the future relationship between feed milling and our everyday lives.

In recognition of the interdependent relationship between feed and food safety and security, this report focuses on highlights from three of the presentations given. They discuss the promise of big data, the increasing global demand for protein and the potential approaches towards achieving sustainability within the feed industry, all without compromising feed safety.

The GMP+ International journey
All the way back in 1992, several incidents involving contamination in feed materials in the Netherlands provoked the Dutch feed industry into developing a code for best practices, otherwise known as ‘Good Manufacturing Practices’ or GMP. In 2000, the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points was included in the scheme, which made the system more preventive and proactive. Realising however, that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, it was also decided that a GMP+ FSA certificate was to be required from suppliers, which later expanded to include transporters, intermediaries and storage companies.

Introducing the Early Warning System and Tracking & Tracing has further helped companies to react quickly in the case of incidents. Also, since GMP+ certificated businesses can only trade with companies that are certificated as well, corporations of other countries started joining the scheme. Having this independent international standard for safe feed was a crucial step because often national legislations can vary from country to country.

In response to increasing importance of sustainability, in 2014 the Feed Responsibility Assurance was launched as an add-on certificate to GMP+ FSA, as proof of a sustainable and responsible work method. In 2016, an impressive 350 companies received this certificate.

By 2017, the Feed Fraud Program was launched with the aim of encouraging companies to be alert to the potential risks throughout the production chain and to raise concerns in order to control them.

Read the full article, HERE.

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