Programmes for the enforcement of animal feed law (at all stages of production, processing, storage, transportation and distribution, including import and the primary production of feed for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This legislation establishes a harmonised framework for the organisation of official controls and activities along the entire agri-food chain.
Arising from this legislation, the UK Government has produced the Multi-Annual National Control Plan (MANCP) and guidance on the importation of high risk foods and feed in the event of a no deal Brexit.
Part IV of this Act includes general provisions enabling controls on the manufacture, marketing and use of feedingstuffs and making of provisions concerning the sampling and analysis of feedingstuffs.
Please note that the guidance listed applies to England. However, and where appropriate, there are links to the controls applying to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in these different sets of guidance documents.
These Regulations establish criteria for evaluating the potential risks, harmonised procedures for risk assessment and authorisation, provisions for the labelling of feed consisting of and containing GMOs and produced from GMOs as well as the traceability and labelling of GMOs and the traceability of food and feed products produced from them.
Related information includes the GM Food and Feed – Notification of Existing Products.
The Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR) implement the EU legislation currently in operation relating to medicated feeds and specified feed additives (SFAs) (i.e. coccidiostats, histomonostats and non-antibiotic growth promoters) used in feedingstuffs. However, the EU Regulation on the production of Medicated Feed was agreed in June 2018 and comes into force on 28 January 2022. Amongst other things, it strengthens the action to fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The Veterinary Medicines Agency (VMD) has produced detailed guidance for manufacturers and suppliers of medicated feeds.
The purpose of this Regulation is to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment as well as the free movement of substances, mixtures and articles within scope of the controls.
The Regulation on the marketing and use of feed materials and compound feed covers labelling provisions, tolerances for analytical constituents, the Catalogue of Feed Materials and Register of Feed Materials. Related information includes the EU Code of good labelling practice for compound feed for food producing animals and guidelines for the feed use of former foodstuffs.
The Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) were amended in 2018 to implement the requirements of the ‘Medium Combustion Plant’ (MCP) Directive and additional controls on ‘Specified Generators’.
The TSE Regulation and the Animal By-Product (ABP) Regulations prevent the use of most animal proteins in feed for food-producing animals. Defra/ the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have produced detailed guidance notes on both the TSE and ABP Regulations and these clarify which animal proteins are permitted to be fed and to which class of livestock.
This Directive lays down maximum limits for heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium as well as for dioxin, aflatoxin, certain pesticides, and botanical impurities in certain feed materials, feed additives and feedingstuffs and sets maximum limits for the carry-over of coccidiostats in feeds intended for non-target species. It also prohibits the dilution of contaminated feed materials.
This legislation establishes common objectives and principles to underpin all stages of production, preparation and distribution of organic products and their control as well as the use of indications referring to organic production in labelling and advertising.
Related documents include guidance on the operation of the organic controls.
The Regulation provides the framework for the authorisation of feed additives requiring a scientific evaluation demonstrating that the additive has no harmful effects, on human and animal health and on the environment. Related information includes the EU Register of Feed Additives.
These regulations provide a legislative framework for food and feed businesses and applies to the stages of production, processing and distribution of food and feed.
Related information includes the Defra/FSA Salmonella Code of Practice for Salmonella in animal feed, HACCP information, third country representation for animal feed business, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and the Rapid Alert for Food and Feed (RASFF).
In March 2020, the European Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan - one of the main blocks of the European Green Deal, Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth. Guidelines have also be produced for the feed use of food no longer intended for human consumption.
AIC HACCP May 2009 A Practical Guide for the Agri-Food Supply Chain This Guide is designed for use both by companies for whom HACCP may be a completely new concept and also for those companies with prior experience of HACCP. This document has been accepted by the European Commission as part of FEFAC’s EFMC Guide to good practice under the EU Feed Hygiene Regulation
