1. Introduction, Purpose and Scope
1.1 Purpose
The Feed Manual is a guide for Authorised Officer conducting Official Controls of feed law and Agents in Scotland.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is the competent authority for the delivery of feed official controls at all stages in the feed chain in Scotland (from primary production to distribution of final product and feeding to animals). FSS has powers to delegate this function to qualifying third parties, referred to as Agents via a Delegated Service Level Agreement. This manual applies to Agents and their authorised feed officers.
The manual aims to ensure consistent, effective, risk-based and intelligence-led official controls at all stages of production, distribution, use, storage, transport, import and export of feed, as required by Regulation (EU) 2017/625. It also describes the approach to be taken in coordinating delivery of official controls with other government agencies, including the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA). The Department of Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has designated, for Great Britain:
- VMD as the Competent Authority responsible for the regulation of veterinary medicines in the UK. It is the enforcing authority for approving and inspecting feed business operators manufacturing
- specified feed additives i.e. coccidiostats and histomonostats, premixtures of such, or feed containing specified feed additives products
- premixtures and feed containing veterinary medicinal products; and
- APHA as the Competent Authority regulating the use of animal by-products and specified risk materials which includes the ban on feeding animal proteins to ruminants and processed animal proteins to farmed animals.
The outcomes of official control delivery contribute to:
- safeguarding public and animal health, food and feed safety.
- maintaining a level playing field for honest and diligent Feed Business Operators (FeBO’s), which is in the interests of industry as a whole; and
- reducing unnecessary burdens on business by focusing feed control activities on priorities identified through intelligence gathering and threat assessment information.
1.2 Scope - Feed
All Feed Business Operators and relevant feed legislation are within scope of this Feed Manual. The relevant legislation covered by this arrangement is as follows:
Specified Feed Law listed in The Feed (Hygiene & Enforcement) Scotland Regulations 2005:
- Part IV of the Agriculture Act 1970, as far as it relates to animal feeding stuffs.
- The Animal Feed (Basic Safety Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 2018
- The Animal Feed (Scotland) Regulations 2010
- The Feed (Hygiene and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (also referred to as the “hygiene regulation”).
- The Official Feed and Food Controls (Scotland) Regulations 2009
- Regulation (EC) 178/2002
- Regulation (EC) 1831/2003
- Regulation (EC) 183/2005
- Regulation (EC) 767/2009
- Regulation (EU) 2017/625
- Regulation (EU) 2019/1793
- The Genetically Modified Animal Feed (Scotland) Regulations 2004
- The Genetically Modified Organisms (Traceability and Labelling) (Scotland) Regulations 2004
- The Feed (Sampling and Analysis and Specified Undesirable Substances) (Scotland) Regulations 2010
Other feed law
References to legislation must be considered a reference to that legislation in its current form (unless otherwise indicated).
1.3 Non-Feed Functions
FSS is not the competent authority for the functions listed below and powers to deal with them sit with other Government bodies. In the event that an issue is identified relating to one of these functions or any other outside the authorisation of the officers, whilst undertaking an intervention under feed law, this must be reported to the Feed Delivery Branch (FDB) as soon as possible by email to enable FSS to engage the appropriate competent authority as early as possible. Information relating to the issue must be as clear, accurate and detailed.