The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) announced that Ruud Tijssens, Group Director Public & Cooperative Affairs, Royal Agrifirm Group, was elected as IFIF’s new chairman for 2022-2023 by delegates at IFIF’s 34th General Assembly held on September 21, 2021.

Outgoing IFIF chairman, Daniel Bercovici, who led the Federation over the last four years, said, “I warmly congratulate Ruud Tijssens on his election as chairman of IFIF. We are at a critical phase of implementing IFIF’s strategy in the face of important global challenges and opportunities in the feed and food chain and I believe Ruud is well placed to successfully lead the Federation to contribute to the growth of a sustainable feed industry worldwide.”

Ruud Tijssens thanked Daniel Bercovici for “his outstanding leadership of IFIF over the last four years under which IFIF experienced strong growth in strategic projects and deeper relationships with international stakeholders while attracting a range of new members from across the globe.” He also thanked “all IFIF Members for their contributions to our success, which strengthens IFIF as the united voice of the global feed industry to promote and support sustainable, safe, nutritious and affordable food for a growing world population.”

On accepting his two-year term as chairman, Tijssens highlighted that “through IFIF’s efforts and partnerships we continue our clear focus on IFIF’s three strategic pillars, including regulatory to promote a balanced regulation framework and support the dynamic pace of innovation, sustainability with science-based standards to contribute to the measurement and management of the feed and livestock sector footprint, as well as education and best practices. We will continue to drive key initiatives, including IFIF’s Nutritional innovation work, capacity development for feed safety programs, as well as the IFIF FAO International Feed Regulators Meeting (IFRM) series.”

He added that “as we work closely with our global partners and stakeholders to support the sustainable development of animal production and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, IFIF will continue to champion science-based decisions, the need for continued innovation and better technologies, as well as regulatory convergence and free and fair trade.”

Tijssens has held several leadership positions within IFIF, previously serving as chair of IFIF’s Sustainability Steering Group as well as a member of the IFIF Executive Committee and the IFIF Board of Directors. He has more than thirty years of diverse executive experience in the agri and food sector, with a focus on innovation, research and development, management and governance processes and he will bring his longstanding experience both with IFIF as well as international feed industry matters to the role of IFIF Chairman.

In addition, delegates to the IFIF 34th Annual General Assembly appointed Bruno Kaesler, CEO of Kaesler Nutrition, as the new IFIF treasurer, and elected the following representatives and organizations to the IFIF Board of Directors for the 2022-2023 term: 

• Roberto Betancourt, Board Member, Brazilian Feed Industry Association (Sindirações) 
• Michael Binder, Vice President Sustainability Development, Evonik Industries AG
• Asbjørn Børsting, President, European Feed Manufacturers' Federation (FEFAC)
• De Wet Boshoff, Executive Director, Animal Feed Manufacturers Association (AFMA), South Africa
• David Bray, President, Stock Feed Manufacturers’ Council of Australia (SFMCA) and Feed Ingredients & Additives Association of Australia (FIAAA)
• Frank Chmitelin, Executive VP, Sales, Marketing & Customer Success, Adisseo
• Frédérique Clusel, Managing Director, Phileo Lesaffre Animal Care
• Constance Cullman, President & CEO, American Feed Industry Association (AFIA)
• Melissa Dumont, Executive Director, Animal Nutrition Association of Canada (ANAC)
• Bruno Kaesler, Managing Director, Kaesler Nutrition GmbH, Treasurer IFIF 
• Adriano Marcon, President & Group Leader, Cargill Animal Nutrition
• Nicolas Martin, Sustainability and Public Affairs Director, METEX NØØVISTAGO
• Colm Moran, Director European Regulatory Affairs, Alltech
• David Nickell, Vice President Sustainability and Business Solutions, DSM
• Joerg Seifert, Secretary General, EU Association of Specialty Feed Ingredients and their Mixtures (FEFANA)
• Jesse Sevcik, Senior Director Global Government Affairs, Elanco Animal Health
• Reinder Sijtsma, Director Government Relations & Regulatory Affairs, Nutreco
• Ruud Tijssens, Group Director Public & Cooperative Affairs, Royal Agrifirm Group & IFIF Chairman
• Zongli Wang, Secretary General, China Feed Industry Association (CFIA)