The 15th annual International Feed Regulators Meeting (IFRM), organized by the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), brought together feed industry representatives and government officials from around the world to discuss critical issues facing the feed sector with IFIF and the FAO.
At the virtual meeting Badi Besbes, head animal production and genetic branch at FAO, and Ruud Tijssens, IFIF chairman, welcomed IFRM delegates and reiterated their commitment to this longstanding partnership and agreed to continue to strengthen their work together to tackle the challenges facing the feed and food chains. Besbes reaffirmed the importance of “collaboration between the public and private sectors to support the key role of the livestock sector in reducing hunger and supporting livelihoods worldwide in a context of sustainable agriculture and food systems.”
Tijssens said, “I am delighted we had a record number of participants from across the world and from key regulatory bodies join us at the 15th IFRM, which due to the pandemic again took place very successfully in a virtual setting. This meeting, yet again, proved to be an important opportunity for the global feed industry and feed regulators to discuss key issues for the feed and food chains, including important work on nutritional innovation to improve animal health and welfare, an update of Codex Alimentarius work with relevance to feed, as well as a very timely session on new feed sources in the context of circular economy.”
Tijssens added that “this dialogue is an important example of the private sector collaborating with the FAO and regulators from around the world and we believe that only by working together can we continue to ensure feed and food security and safety while meeting the global demands for food sustainably.”
“The success of this meeting is proof that FAO’s efforts to facilitate dialogue between the public and private sectors are worthwhile and given the current challenges, collaboration among all parties at the international and national level to ensure among others, human and animal well-being, and feed and food safety and security is more important than ever,” said Daniela Battaglia, livestock production officer, animal production and health division of the FAO.
Daniela Battaglia added that “feed operators can valuably contribute to make the livestock and food sectors more responsible and sustainable and to achieve other important goals such as the containment of antimicrobial resistance and public, animal and environmental health. The IFRM is an important opportunity to exchange ideas among stakeholders from around the world and to coordinate our efforts towards common goals.”
Other topics discussed at the 15th IFRM included updates on the successful work of the International Cooperation for Convergence of Technical Requirements for the Assessment of Feed Ingredients (ICCF), which aims towards convergence of technical requirements specific to feed additive/ingredient authorization across regions, as well as a presentation on the developments of EU feed legislation to address sustainability requirements.
