Protocol Monitoring Aflatoxin B1 in maize (by-products)

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Change in Risk Profile for several countries – Harvest 2022/2023

As a result of the evaluation of the available analysis results of Aflatoxin B1 in maize GMP+ International, together with other accepted scheme holders, has adjusted the risk profile for Aflatoxin B1. Because of the forthcoming new maize harvest, the classification of countries also takes into account information about growing and harvesting conditions. In addition, consideration has been given to countries where a possible mix with old (2021) harvest from high-/medium risk countries could pose a risk to feed safety. Based on these criteria, it was decided at the beginning of the 2022 harvest year that all countries should first be classified as Medium, with the exception of 17 low-risk countries.

Changed Risk Profiles:

  • Spain -  raised from low to medium
  • Ukraine - raised from low to medium
  • Canada - raised from low to medium
  • Czech Republic – raised from low to medium

This means that maize originating from

  • Spain must be analyzed more frequently
  • Ukraine must be analyzed more frequently
  • Canada must be analyzed more frequently
  • Czech Republic must be analyzed more frequently

This new risk profile takes effect 15th of September 2022.

Note:
Maize originating from a country with High risk must be analyzed more frequently, because the risk of the presence of Aflatoxin B1 is to be considered high.
Consult for more details GMP+ Aflatoxine Protocol TS 1.7 Monitoring - Appendix

We do it together!

To be able to reclassify countries, it is important for GMP+ participants to upload their analysis results to the GMP+ Monitoring database and to share it with our community.

Be careful

Incorrect analysis results in the database can affect the results of the evaluation and risk classification of the countries.

When uploading this information, please make sure that the origin of the maize is entered correctly and that the levels of Aflatoxin detected are entered with the correct unit (mg/kg).

- Ask your laboratory to report in the correct unit

Ask your laboratory to report the analysis results in the same unit as included in GMP+ BA1/TS 1.5  Specific Feed Safety Limits. For Aflatoxin the correct unit is mg/kg. This helps you when you check the result with the applicable feed safety limits in GMP+ BA1/TS 1.5, but also helps you comply with the requirement of the GMP+ Monitoring database to report the result in this unit.

- If the analysis result is in ppb, you must first convert it to mg/kg.

Why is this important?

Analyzing monitoring results is an important source for GMP+ International in determining potential risks. Also, it helps us developing FSP products that make you and the feed industry as a whole more resilient. 

Previous changes in risk profiles

Since September 2021 the risk profiles of countries of origin have changed as follows:

Final Implementation date

Country

Risk profile

July 4th, 2022

Canada
France-Southwest

Medium > Low
Medium > Low

February 15th, 2022

Spain
Czech Republic

Medium > Low
Medium > Low

December 27th, 2021

Ukraine
France-Southwest (departments: 64, 40, 33, 47, 31, 32, 65 and 82)
France - other departments

Medium > Low
Low > Medium

Remains low

September 20th, 2021

Hungary
Ukraine
Serbia

Low > Medium
Low > Medium
Low > Medium


Questions?
If you have any questions concerning this message, please contact your GMP+ representative or get in touch with GMP+ International: www.gmpplus.org or call +31 (0)70 307 4120.