• Consultation on changing the controls on the use of processed animal protein (PAP) from poultry, pigs and insects has opened in England and Wales

• Proposed changes, which do not affect UK biosecurity levels, would give farmers more choices, supporting the potential for investment

Changes to livestock feed controls are being proposed in a move to support the farming industry, it has been announced yesterday (Tuesday 4 February). 

Views are now being sought through a public consultation on whether to update livestock feed controls which currently prohibit animal protein from being fed to farmed animals, with very limited exceptions.  

Incidences of BSE in the UK have greatly reduced since the height of the epidemic in 1992. However, current livestock feed regulations remain unduly restrictive and no longer reflect current scientific knowledge or the level of BSE risk.   

The changes proposed do not affect the UK’s high level of biosecurity, animal and public health protection and would not increase TSE risk. Key protections will remain in place, including the banning of using processed animal protein of ruminant origin in feed and the prohibition of intra-species recycling.      

Any changes made following consultation would give farmers more choices, open new markets for renderers, support the potential for investment in the insect protein sector and maintain a level playing field with the EU, where these changes were introduced in 2021, giving farmers in England and Wales the same choices their European counterparts have.

More information about the consultation is available via this link.