AFIA discusses ingredient import safety

Open to all companies in the feed and pet food
industries, the National Dialog on Ingredient Import Safety was held in response
to increasing concerns over international imports. Purpose of the meeting was to
discuss an AFIA-prepared draft Guidance for the Industry that will be
presented to the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).

Critical elements
AFIA Vice
President of Feed Regulation and Nutrition Richard Sellers organized and led the
meeting. He provided an overview of AFIA’s Safe Feed/Safe
Food Certification Program, now into its fourth year. He emphasized three
critical elements of the program: (1) hazard analysis; (2) product tracking and
tracing; and (3) inspections. Sellers reported that AFIA is working with FDA on
various aspects related to third-party certification and strongly supports the
agency’s move in that direction. Sellers also distributed the draft paper:
AFIA’s “Recommendations for Selecting Ingredient Suppliers and Products for
Animal Food Production” which served as a working paper and centerpiece for the
meeting. The guidance document is intended to provide FDA with ingredient safety
issues and factors that it should present to the industry for consideration.

Focus on traceability
“The Chicago workshop provided excellent
feedback and recommendations for moving ahead,” Sellers said. “A united industry
front will greatly facilitate efforts to enhance the safety of international
imports and assist federal regulatory in dealing with that
issue.”

Another initiative in AFIA’s attempts to further solidify the
safety of feed and pet food products and ingredients focuses on traceability.
AFIA has developed a Feed Trace and Track Connectivity Program which is an
electronic program for the transfer and storage of uniform product sales and
receipt information for future traceability. The program provides the feed
industry with a unique, uniform and secure, cost-effective tool for compliance
with governmental regulations.

Related website:
AFIA

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