GMP+ presents the merits of certification to French feed companies
GMP+ held its first seminar in France with the aim of presenting the benefits of GMP+ certification for French feed companies on the stage and getting feedback about specific conditions in the French market.
The seminar was held on the 5th of June, 2012, in Reims, and was titled “What is GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance? Why choose for this international feed safety program?”. About 60 persons from grain collection, production of feed materials, compound feed and premixes and from transport were in attendence. Also specialized press was present.
It covered some strong points the most important being the possibility to certify multiple activities (compound feed, premixes, transport, etc.) at once: one stop shop – multiple certification. Sustainability will also be part of it in the near future. Also the possibility of certification à la carte.
The main aim was to put the benefits of GMP+ certification for French feed companies on the stage and to get feedback about specific conditions in the French market. Additionally, to share practical experiences in the application of GMP+ certification in France.
At the moment, 200 French feed companies are GMP+ certified. Most of them are producers of (124) and traders in (40) feed materials. But there are also French GMP+ certified producers of compound feed (13), of additives (5) and of premixes (4). Also road transport companies (14) are GMP+ certified.
Besides speakers from GMP+ International, there were two external speakers who gave a presentation on their experiences with GMP+ certification in practise. The first speaker was Mr Loïc Le Henaff, Quality Manager of INZO, the biggest compound feed producer in France. He told about his experience of GMP+ certification compared to other certification schemes. Mr Franck Paterski, consultant quality management, explained what the added value of GMP+ certification is for French feed companies.
During the seminar, some strong points of GMP+ certification were emphasized:
- The HACCP approach is very complete
- Good technical annexes with relevant information
- Once stop shop – multiple certification: easy combination of certification of several activities (production compound feed and premixes, trade, transport, etc.) and very soon besides feed safety also sustainability aspects
- Certification à la carte per activity covered by the scopes of the GMP+ certification scheme
- GMP+ certification is accepted worldwide
- Mutual recognition with equivalent certification schemes.
Some suggestions for improvement were made, one was to extend the number of documents available in the French language. GMP+ International said they will look into this.
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