This risk assessment must be carried out in accordance with the standards of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and must demonstrate that the product in question can safely be used as an ingredient in animal feed. In addition, pork, beef and veal producers that have been awarded IKB certification - a Dutch quality assurance scheme - must also comply with the code of good manufacturing practice (GMP) for the production of animal feed.
This is indicative of the direction European agriculture as a whole is going. In 2002, the European Commission examined whether it would be advisable - and feasible - to have a list of authorised animal feed ingredients, known as a 'positive list'. The EC concluded that the introduction of a positive list would not, in itself, ensure feed and food safety.
The Dutch animal feed sector had come to the same conclusion independently, and was therefore examining the possibility of introducing a compulsory requirement to carry out HACCP-based risk assessments for all feed materials as part of the GMP regulations for the animal feed sector.
Approved feed ingredients are stored on a database, and products not included on the database are no longer acceptable for use in the manufacture of or trading in animal feed. Dutch authorities say that approved risk assessments will be periodically evaluated and, if necessary, updated.
A number of products included in the database are still undergoing a risk assessment. These may be used as a transitional measure until a final decision is taken on the risk assessment.
Since 2001, meat producers have been required to apply the principles of HACCP. The obligation to use only feed products that have undergone a risk assessment came into effect earlier this year.
The database, called the Databank Risicobeoordelingen Voedermiddelen (Feed Materials Risk Assessment Database), can be downloaded from the Animal Feed Product Board website.