Feed Legislation Update – Definition of waste: Legal Guidance Note
Use of materials from the manufacture or sale of food/drink for human consumption as animal feed (with or without further processing)
Introduction
In October 2005, the Environment Agency issued the Definition of waste: Legal Guidance Note. This outlined the three different scenarios in which materials from the manufacture or sale of food/drink for human consumption (i.e. former foodstuffs) may be used as animal feed (with or without further processing). The Note also stated the scenario in which former foodstuffs may not be fed to farm livestock.
Since the Legal Guidance Note was released, the European Union has continued to revise and update the comprehensive feed safety legislation. In line with these developments, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and devolved administrations have updated the national UK controls and guidance that either gives enforcement powers and/or helps in the implementation of the EU legislation.
Legislation Update
The main pieces of feed legislation include: -
- Regulation 178/2002 on the general principles of food and feed law;
- Regulation 183/2005 on feed hygiene;
- Regulation 767/2009 on the marketing and use of animal feed;
- Directive 2002/32 on undesirable substances;
- Regulation 999/2001 on the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies;
- Regulation 1069/2009 on animal by-products;
- Regulation 882/2004 on official food and feed controls.
Of particular use to the feed industry and enforcement agencies are the relevant sets of guidance that facilitate compliance with the controls in question and which includes: -
- APHA guidance, under Regulation 1069/2009, on those animal by-products that can be used in animal feed;
- FSA guidance, under Regulation 183/2005 on feed hygiene, for food and drink businesses;
- Revised Waste Framework Directive (2018/851);
- EU Commission - Guidelines for the feed use of food no longer intended for human consumption;
- EU Commission Notice - Guidance document on the implementation of certain provisions of Regulation 183/2005 laying down requirements for feed hygiene;
- Advisory Committee on Animal Feed (ACAF) updated Review of On-Farm Feeding Practices.
Conclusion
On reviewing the content of the 2005 Legal Guidance Note, the feed industry cannot identify any specific operational issues or problems arising from the guidance therein. However, it is considered that the update of legislation and access to relevant official guidance as listed above should prove to be helpful. The feed industry’s major concern was whether the contents of the “Legal Guidance Note”, which was written in 2005, were still relevant and applicable. Our review has demonstrated that this is the case. At the same, the feed industry consider it is necessary to draw attention to recent changes in feed legislation and associated guidance documents which help validate this position.
October 2019
Legal Guidance Note - Defintition of Waste - 12 October 2005
