The European Compound Feed Manufacturers Association (FEFAC) has called on the European Commission to facilitate moves towards creating a more sustainable European feed industry.

FEFAC documents moves to achieve greater sustainability in the European livestock sector in its latest environment report, released on Wednesday. The organisation stated “Feed is the most important single factor for the sustainable development of livestock and aquaculture production.”

In it, the association details progress made towards developing an international methodology for assessing the impacts of livestock products on the environment, both at European level through the EU Food SCP Roundtable and internationally through work with the UN FAO.  The group has also helped define an international standard for responsible soy.

FECAC Members called on the European Commission to bring in laws governing the use of ‘former foodstuffs’ in animal feed, which the organisation claims will address waste issues within the EU and provide sustainable, local feed for the bloc’s livestock. It has been suggested that foodstuffs which cannot be sold for human consumption for various reasons, including pre-consumer waste, could be sanctioned for use as animal feed.

The association will discuss the issue of ‘former foodstuffs’ in its annual meeting being held today in Brussels. Policy makers from the European Commission, European Food & Drink Federation and industry representatives will discuss adaptations to the regulatory framework, which would permit such a change, whilst maintaining safe and controlled production.

In its recent report, FEFAC identifies areas of European policy where it feels problems may arise in rolling out its vision for developing and promoting sustainable feed. These include the upcoming reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the EU Sustainable Consumption and Production policy, also forthcoming. FEFAC president Patrick Vanden Avenne, said upon the report’s release, “This chain dialogue is not only necessary for methodological discussions but is also important to develop a true holistic approach of sustainability, as shown in the contributions of our partners in this report.”

The group has also spuriously claimed that championing better feed conversion rates would serve to reduce the livestock sector’s environmental footprint; the association suggested, “Feed conversion rates have improved by more than 30% over the past 25 years, thus reducing considerably the ecological footprint of livestock production.”

Ruud Tijssens, chair of the FEFAC task force on sustainability, said of FEFAC’s push for greater sustainability, “The European compound feed industry has to focus on the further increase of resource efficiency and its contribution to safe and healthy feed and food. This is the added value that the feed compounder can bring to its customers. The EU feed industry is taking its responsibility towards society: given the global growing demand for animal products and the shrinking availability of natural resources, it is absolutely vital for the feed industry to take care of its social and environmental impact. These are the guiding principles of FEFAC actions in the area of sustainability.”

Although demand for meat is increasing in several global regions, notably in China, in Europe demand is on the wane, according to EU statisticians. Experts in a number of organisations have expressed concern that the adoption of high meat and dairy diets by more people around the world could prove unmanageable as the global population continues to increase.

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