February 8, 2013
EU, US collaborate on monitoring livestock supply performance
Press release
The UN FAO was joined by the European Feed Manufacturer''s Federation (FEFAC) and the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) together with the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) on benchmarking and monitoring the environmental performance of livestock supply chains.
The FEFAC and the AFIA set up a consortium in 2011 with the view to collaborate on environmental footprinting. The consortium expects to reach a first milestone in 2013 with the publication of the first version of the Feed LCA Recommendations and guidance document.
"With the need to reduce the impact of livestock products on the environment, being able to measure the impacts associated with feed using a sound and harmonised methodology is a first step to initiate mitigations options" says Joel Newman, AFIA''s President and CEO.
"These recommendations are meant to respond to the need of feed operators and to the demand of feed customers such as the dairy and meat sectors" says Patrick Vanden Avenne, FEFAC''s President.
The interim version of the FEFAC and AFIA Feed LCA Recommendations will be presented at the occasion of the Fourth Global Feedand Food Congress organised by IFIF in South Africa in April 2013. These recommendations are being developed in accordance with the main international standards and guidelines and take place in the framework of the FAO''s Partnership which aims at improving how the environmental impacts of livestock products are measured. They will be complemented by a database of the GHG emissions of the major processed feed ingredients.
"The sustainable development of global livestock production is one of the key priorities for IFIF" says Mario Cutait, IFIF''s Chairman. Cutait adds "IFIF welcomes these Feed LCA Recommendations which represent an important first step towards a globally harmonised industry standard for Feed LCA".
The consortium currently gathers seven feed companies (Agrifirm, Cargill, De Heus, Denkavit, For Farmers, Provimi, Van Drie Group) and seven feed associations (AFIA, AIC, Bemefa, Dakofo, FEFAC, Nevedi, SNIA) which share a common interest in the development of methodologies for the assessment of the environmental impact linked to feed production and consumption and LCA database.
The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) is made up of national and regional feed associations, feed related organisations, and corporate members from around the globe, representing over 80% of the feed production worldwide. IFIF provides a unified leadership and coordinating role in order to contribute to the sustainable supply of safe, healthy feed and therefore food.
The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) represents the business, legislative and regulatory interests of the US animal feed industry and its suppliers. AFIA also is the recognised leader on international industry developments. Member-companies are livestock feed and pet food manufacturers, integrators, pharmaceutical companies, ingredient suppliers, equipment manufacturers and companies which supply other products, services and supplies to feed manufacturers.
FEFAC, the European Compound Feed Manufacturers'' Federation, represents 22 national Associations in 21 EU Member States as well as Associations in Switzerland, Turkey, Norway, Croatia, Serbia and Russia with observer/associate member status. The European compound feed industry employs over 110,000 persons at approximately 4,000 production sites often in rural areas, which offer few other employment opportunities.