Animal feed legislation and guidance

This legislation covers:

• the additives (vitamins, colourants, flavourings, binders, and so on) authorised for use in animal feed
• the maximum levels of various contaminants (e.g. arsenic, lead, dioxins and certain pesticides)
• certain ingredients that may not be used in feed
• the nutritional claims that can be made for certain feeds
• the names and descriptions which must be applied to various feed materials (that is, ingredients fed singly)
• the information to be provided on feed labels.

These measures are given force in England by the Feeding Stuffs Regulations 2005, with separate but parallel legislation applying in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Guidance to the main provisions of these Regulations can be found via the links below.

Feed measures relating to the control of animal disease, including transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) and the use of animal by-products, are the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsDefra, but the Agency maintains a close watching brief interest.

Feed materials imported into the UK can include some genetically modified (GM) or GM-derived ingredients. Further details about the presence of GM material in animal feed can be found on the Agency’s website.

A background note for consumers who may be interested in what is fed to farmed livestock can be found at the links below. This note summarises the categories of the most commonly used feedingstuffs and the typical diets of the main livestock species farmed in the UK (cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and fish).

There are a number of overarching European measures which apply in this area. The key measures are:

• EC Regulation 178/2002 laying down the general principles of food and feed law, which includes provisions on feed for food-producing animals. This prohibits the marketing of unsafe feed and requires feed businesses to have traceability procedures in place.
• EC Regulation 882/2004 on official food and feed controls, which consolidates existing enforcement and inspection measures, lays down the principles and powers for carrying out these controls, and specifies the action to be taken both to check businesses’ compliance with the rules and when breaches are found.
• EC Regulation 183/2005 on feed hygiene, which requires most feed businesses involved in making, marketing or using feeds, including livestock farms and arable farms growing crops for feed use, to be registered or approved. Feed businesses will have to comply with standards in respect of facilities, storage, personnel and record-keeping. This Regulation applies throughout the feed chain, including to food manufacturers selling by-products of food production into the feed chain and most livestock and some arable farmers.

EC Regulation 183/2005 and the feed-related aspects of EC Regulation 178/2002 are enforced in England through the Feed (Hygiene and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005. Separate but parallel legislation applies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Guidance on how to apply for registration and approval under these regulations can be found at the links below.

Information about the major new piece of animal feed legislation, which was adopted by the EU in June 2009, can be found at the link below.

The Agency carries out consultations while measures are under discussion in Brussels and subsequently when implementing feed measures into national law. A list of all the feed-related legislation for which is Agency is responsible, showing which EC measures they implement, can be found at the links below.

The Agency is advised by the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs (ACAF), an independent body which provides advice on the safety and use of animal feeds and feeding practices, with particular emphasis on the protection of human health. More information about the committee and its work can be found on the ACAF website at the link below.

Through its Food and Veterinary Office, the European Commission carries out inspections in Member States to ensure that legislation is being correctly enforced. These inspections can include feed legislation.

Community Guides to good practice
In January this year, the European Commission and Member States assessed and agreed the texts of three Community Guides to good practice, which were developed in accordance with Article 22 of EC Regulation 183/2005. These Guides may be used on a voluntary basis by feed business operators as an aid to compliance with the requirements of Regulation 183/2005.

The three Guides, which cover compound feed manufacture, feed additive/premixture manufacture, and pet food manufacture, have been published in the 'C' series of the Official Journal of the European Union and can be found on the Commission's website.

Guidelines for the development of Community guides to good practice and a Register for National guides to good practice can be found on the Commission's website.

These Guides may be developed or extended in the light of experience of their operation.

Feed business sectors interested in proposing Community Guides should contact the Food Standards Agency in the first instance.

Assessment Panel
The Agency will consider guides for recognition with the help of a Good Practice Guides Assessment Panel. This is the procedure that has been adopted for the assessment of Food Hygiene guides. The appointment of panelists will be confirmed as soon as a decision has been made.

For further information please contact:

Ned Mazhar
Animal Feed Unit
tel: 020 7276 8609
email: nader.mazhar@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

The Food Standards Agency guidelines for the development of national voluntary guides to good hygiene practice and the application of HACCP principles (Article 21) in accordance with EC Regulation 183/2005 laying down requirements for feed hygiene can be downloaded from the link below.