CHEAP IMPORTED FOOD COULD THREATEN FARM ANIMAL WELFARE STANDARDS AFTER BREXIT, LORDS
REPORT WARNS The House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee has published its report Brexit: farm animal welfare. The Committee warns that a potential increase in imports from countries operating lower farm animal welfare standards could put UK producers at a competitive disadvantage after Brexit. The Committee heard evidence that
the greatest threat to farm animal welfare standards post-Brexit would come from UK farmers competing against cheap, imported food from countries that produce to lower standards than the UK. The Government’s wish for the UK to become a global leader in free trade is not necessarily compatible with its desire to maintain high animal welfare standards. The demand for high-welfare products
is ultimately driven by whether consumers prioritise purchasing those products, at added cost, rather than buying cheaper, lower-welfare products. The Committee found that consumers are not always aware of the difference between production systems or willing to pay a higher price for premium welfare products. This could exacerbate the challenge to UK farmers’ competitiveness arising from a potential increase in cheaper imports produced to lower welfare standards. The report also examines whether the
UK will have access to the staff needed on farms and in abattoirs after Brexit. The report finds that there is an overwhelming reliance on non-UK EU citizens to fill crucial official veterinary positions in the UK, whilst the agricultural sector employs significant numbers of temporary and permanent farm workers. The Committee calls on the Government to ensure that the industry is able to retain or recruit qualified staff to fill these roles post-Brexit. Lord Teverson, Chairman of the EU
Energy and Environment Sub-Committee, said: “The UK has some of the highest farm animal welfare standards in the world and UK producers are rightly proud of those. We see no reason why Brexit should diminish those, as long as the Government is aware of the challenges ahead and acts accordingly. “We heard evidence of undeniable
concern that opening up the UK market to free global trade poses a number of issues. As we said in our last report, Brexit: agriculture, the Government may find it hard to reconcile its free trade ambitions with its commendable desire for preserving high farm animal welfare standards. “We heard overwhelming support for farm
animal welfare standards to be maintained or improved. To help achieve that, we urge the Government to secure the inclusion of high farm animal welfare standards in any free trade agreements it negotiates after Brexit.
“Whilst Brexit provides the UK with the
unique opportunity to review and potentially improve farm animal welfare standards, the Government will need to consider the effect of increasing standards on the competitiveness of UK producers as well the future trading relationship with the EU”.
EUROPEAN INSECT PRODUCERS WELCOME THE PUBLICATION OF THE NOVEL FOOD IMPLEMENTING
RULES IPIFF – the European umbrella organisation representing the interests of the Insect Production sector for Food and Feed – has welcomed the publication by the European Commission of a ‘package’ of proposals setting out the detailed requirements for the EU ‘novel food’ legislation. The insect producers’ federation now pleads for a rapid adoption of these new rules. This move came after the European
Council and the Parliament adopted, in November 2015, a new EU Regulation - i.e. Regulation 2015/2283 - reviewing the current EU legislation on ‘novel foods’. The European legislator empowered the European Commission to define the technical rules of this new EU law, prior to its application as from 1st January 2018: these notably concern the content and format of applications for authorisation, which insect producers have to submit to the European Commission, in view of authorising their products as food on the European market. Reacting to the publication of these
proposals, the IPIFF President Antoine Hubert said: ‘these EU legal texts had been awaited for a long time: so we are pleased with the move made by the European Commission. Bearing in mind that the new EU ‘novel food’ legislation will take effect as from 1st
January
2018, insect producers were missing these legal texts to able to complete their application dossier. That’s why we ask the EU Executive to take all necessary steps to ensure that these texts will be rapidly adopted’. When the EU novel food legislation was
adopted back in 2015, IPIFF had welcomed the establishment of harmonized rules and the efforts made to streamline and speed up the procedural steps for authorisation. ‘Now the question is about establishing workable rules and providing sufficient guidance for insect producing companies to implement the new EU requirements’; explained the Chair of the IPIFF Novel Food Task Force, Heidi de Bruin. ‘In that regard, we consider that the proposed rules are a step in the right direction. We are pleased that the text leaves flexibility for operators to determine the type of evidence to include into their application: for instance, many experts in the field discard toxicological testing as a relevant means to demonstrate the food safety of insect based products, if these have not been structurally or chemically modified’.
IPIFF and its members are however
concerned that the transitional measures foreseen in the draft text may not be properly enforced by national authorities. Such transitional period should apply to whole insects and products if these have been legally placed on the market before 1st
January 2018.
‘These measures are particularly valuable for insect products, as these guarantee that operators are not ‘forced’ to stop their production, while their application is being evaluated’ stressed the IPIFF novel food Chair. IPIFF and its dedicated Task Force
on novel food provides assistance to insect producers in the preparation and drafting of applications for authorisation. Several IPIFF members producing insects for food consumption are already well advanced in this process. The above subjects will be discussed
during IPIFF international conference on 21 November 2017. Opened by the EU commissioner for Health & Food Safety, this event will look into the EU legislative opportunities for the insect value chain.
F E F A C W E L C O M E S AUTHORISATION OF INSECT
MEAL IN FISH FEED As from 1 July 2017, processed proteins derived from insects have been authorised in feed for farmed fish in the EU. FEFAC welcomes the authorization of this promising alternative source of proteins for animal feeding, in particular for fish farming which requires diet compositions with highly digestible proteins. In the long term, the inclusion of insect meal could further contribute to the sustainable development of EU aquaculture. Within the current legal framework,
the feeding of insects destined to be used as fish feed needs to comply with the same requirements as any conventionally farmed animal, meaning in particular that they may not be fed with e.g. catering waste or livestock manure. FEFAC believes that this measure is in line with the present state of scientific knowledge and should facilitate the public and market acceptance of insect proteins used as feed. FEFAC would welcome further research
into the safety of potential alternative substrates for insect farming, i.e. materials that are currently not directly useable for feeding fish, poultry or pigs, as also recommended by EFSA in its opinion on the risk profile related to production and consumption of insects as food and feed in October 2015. This may create further added value to proteins derived from farmed insects in the context of boosting circular economies.
FEED COMPOUNDER SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 PAGE 59
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