Launch of new consortium on antioxidants established by FEFANA
A new consortium to support the industry in obtaining EU authorization for antioxidants existing under the Feed Additives Regulation 1831/2003 has recently been established by the European Feed Additives and Premixtures Association (FEFANA). The consortium is focusing on antioxidants classified in the technological additives category determined in Annex I of the 1831/2003 legislation and has been named ANTOXIAC.
Losing market authorization always remains plausible for any feed antioxidant operator. Therefore, coordinated efforts of those producing or using antioxidants are urgently needed in order to secure their authorization on the EU market and also maintain an appropriate diversity of sources. Towards their clients who are closely watching the reauthorization process, companies involved in the freshly created ANTOXIAC European Economic Interest Grouping position themselves as responsible and reliable partners.
So far, the feed additive producers, users, traders and EU associations have managed to keep the vast majority of commonly used feed additives authorized on the EU market. The Community Register of Feed Additives gives transparency to the process. As far as ANTOXIAC is concerned, only the antioxidants listed in the Register can be sold and used, for the functions and animal species covered in the authorization. With the complete authorization dossier to be built, a last but major step is ahead for all feed antioxidant operators.
The content of the dossier to table has been defined by a Guideline Regulation which the European Commission has voted and recently published. For several years, FEFANA has actively been involved with the Commission and EFSA in the preparation of this pivotal document. FEFANA is furthermore establishing additional tools for helping its members and the consortia to prepare their dossiers in a consistent and coordinated way.
The fact that the ANTOXIAC consortium has just been established does not mean that it will automatically take care of all the antioxidants pertaining to it. The grouping has defined objective criteria in order to bring (or not) specific antioxidants under the scope of work of the grouping, based upon the interest and commitment of its members.
As with the eight other consortia that were previously established (ACIAC for organic acids and their salts, AMAC for amino acids, CARAC for carotenoids, EMULAC for emulsifiers, FFAC for flavorings, SILAC for silage agents, TREAC for trace elements and VITAC for vitamins) the precise list of antioxidants on which the new grouping is working remains open for a while in order to adapt to the need of new members. The list of specific additives on which the grouping is working will remain confidential to all ANTOXIAC members. Modifications of the working list for the newcomers will be allowed until March 31, 2009. Afterwards, the list of additives on which the grouping will be working shall be considered as definitely fixed and shall not be adapted anymore. Just like all other consortia already established by FEFANA, ANTOXIAC is open to non-FEFANA members.
As the consortium members have already started to work proactively, it will become increasingly difficult to integrate newcomers as the work progresses. Beside access to the vast know-how established within FEFANA over the years, the reduction of individual burden, the sharing of costs, the legal framework it provides for companies to cooperate, the close relationship with EFSA can also be seen as an important added value for such new grouping as ANTOXIAC. It is now of paramount importance for any ANTOXIAC applicant to avoid investing time and efforts leading to dead ends. Regulation (EC) 429/2008 of 25 April 2008 on detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation 1831/2003 regarding the preparation and the presentation of applications as well as the assessment and the authorisation of feed additives has now been published for several months and FEFANA has also finished preparing very convenient guidance documents.
Find out more about ANTOXIAC and its activities.
*FEFANA is the EU Feed Additives and Premixtures Association. It was established on October 13th, 2004 and is the new juridical form of the feed additives producers association that was founded in 1963. With 99 members from 28 countries, the association is the interface between the feed additives industry and the European Union authorities, including Member States authorities, in order to promote, safeguard and defend common and general interests of the industry (in several topics like guidelines, register, labelling and definitions, analysis, feed hygiene and food chain safety or non-feed use of additives). FEFANA’s chairperson is Dr. Hadden Graham of AB Vista.
