The larger and wealthier the population, the more animal products are consumed. And the world’s population is growing.
Africa and Asia will see the biggest population growth in the next 20 years, and projections show this will be accompanied by significant growth in consumption of meat and animal products. This will create long-term change in the feed market, while today we’re experiencing market volatility that will likely continues to affect the feed industry into the medium term.
As the world’s largest scheme for safe and sustainable feed, GMP+ International plays a key role in this shifting context. We want to ensure that future generations anywhere in the world can enjoy the contamination- and incident-free feed chain that we have helped build.
Harmonisation unlocks business growth
Our international focus is informed by the fact that some countries have more developed feed safety and sustainability cultures than others, which is to be expected of a dynamic international market.
A full harmonisation of feed safety and sustainability systems worldwide is, let’s be honest, idealistic. Nonetheless, companies sourcing from the feed chain want to be assured their suppliers meet robust safety and sustainability outcomes no matter where they are based, even if their ways to get there are slightly different.
This is an immediate value of becoming GMP+ certified. The global trade situation is changing, and more dramatically and quickly than companies can reasonably anticipate. If your company is meeting our requirements, it not only provides access to established markets, but also emerging markets for the long-term, and it is easier for you to shift to new markets or customers in the event of market volatility.
We’re an international partner
In our discussions with companies around the world, and through our harmonisation meetings with auditors in different markets, we’ve heard that some companies who are more familiar with rules-based regulations would like more support with applying our outcomes-based requirements.
As I’ve already written about, our collaboration with AnimalCert will expand our support for companies in Brazil’s feed chain to take a step-wise approach to integrating GMP+ certification. We are now exploring similar support in Asia. We have new Registered Consultants in India and the Faroe Islands.
As we have been developing our certification and services offerings, we have also been taking a more international mindset. Our recently launched Antibiotic-free feed standard, built on the lessons of a national scheme, has been adapted for worldwide use. We have recently finished the consultation on our new Feed life cycle assessment (LCA) standard, also for international application. And we are actively exploring a data protocol to enable sustainability data to be passed end-to-end across our complex international feed chain.
The future of feed is international
I’m convinced that in the end more countries will raise the bar in terms of feed safety and sustainability, because of its importance for the human food chain. And as populations grow and become wealthier this will fuel other countries to work on this too. We at GMP+ International have the experience to help, and we've already been invited by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) to share our experience with risk-based inspections. With the knowledge we gained from 30+ years, we can support other countries and global partners with growing their knowledge on safety and sustainability.
Our mission is to ensure safe and sustainable feed, worldwide. To me that’s a world where all feed is high quality, uncontaminated, traceable, and certified – no matter what its journey through the chain was. That frees up the feed market to be truly dynamic because robust outcomes are assured. And ultimately, consumers and local communities have confidence that if they choose animal products that they have a safe and sustainable chain behind them.
The feed chain is truly international, and so are we. For companies, if you are waiting until regulation or the market stabilises to make the move, then you should not be surprised that your competitors who think to the future are getting a head start. Safety and sustainability certification is crucial for companies in the feed chain to remain frontrunners, and being certified is what defines a frontrunner in both established and emerging markets.
When the GMP+ Feed Certification scheme is your baseline, every market is open for you.