GMP+ International adds country note Italy

This has been made possible by adding the so called ‘GMP+ FSA Country Note Italy (GMP+ BCN-IT). This was announced at a recently held workshop in Italy, attended by nearly 100 representatives of Italian Feed companies.

Increase in Italian certified companies

Since 2010, the number of GMP+ FSA certified companies in Italy increased by 900% to almost 400 companies today. This makes Italy the 6th most important country for GMP+ International. The introduction of this Country Note is the result of initiatives taken by local feed companies and certification bodies to overcome some of the most important hurdles for these companies in establishing a GMP+ feed safety management system and for getting a GMP+ FSA certificate.

Why this country note?

During the workshop representatives of GMP+ certified companies Agricola Grains S.p.A and Methodo Chemicals s.r.l., shared their experiences and bottlenecks with the audience. The chain approach, the founding concept of GMP+ FSA, often causes issues with sourcing of feed materials in countries where the density of GMP+ participants is low.

Issues to address

This Italian country note, a temporary standard, applicable till end 2019, is meant to address issues in the following areas;

• Gatekeeper protocols to allow sourcing of non-assured feed materials
• Requirements to combine the production of GMP+ assured and non-assured feed in the same production facility
• Special conditions allowing transport companies to perform gatekeeper protocols, subject to approval of the producer or trader
• Labelling conditions for BCN-IT and non-assured products

Monitor the Italian experiences

This country note offers Italian companies the possibility to participate in the GMP+ scheme, even when their suppliers are not yet applying a certified feed safety management system. The country note can be applied only for a few years in which assured, certified supply chains can be achieved. Products, produced with this country note, can only be placed on the local, Italian market. Over the next months, GMP+ will closely monitor the experiences of Italian companies in order to make this Country Note as practical as possible, yet ensuring safe practices.

The Italian translation of the Country Note Italy as well as a FAQ-document regarding this country note will be available shortly.