Cancun congress successful despite volcano eruption
The third Global Feed & Food Congress, which occurred in Cancun, Mexico, April 20-23, was attended by more than 350 delegates from 27 countries, in spite of losing 17 speakers to flight restrictions imposed over most of Europe.
Only six presentations were cancelled entirely, as some presentations went ahead as video-conference events while others were delivered by substitute speakers.
The congress was organized by the International Feed Industry Federation and hosted by the National Council of Mexican Feed Manufacturers, also known as CONAFAB. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization was a technical provider.
Although there were continuing changes to the program each day due to volcano-related travel woes, the conference managed to provide delegates with updates, tools and opinions about feed safety and its effects on food safety.
Topics were as varied as mycotoxins, national feed safety programs, biotechnology, biofuels and more.
Minister keynote speaker
The keynote speech was provided by Mexican Minister of Agriculture Francisco J. Mayorga, who applauded the industry for taking the positive approach to feed safety.
He was presented with the first copy of the new compliance guide for the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s Code of Good Animal Feeding Practice.
The guide, Manual of Good Practices for the Animal Feed Industry, was developed by FAO and IFIF over several years. A copy will be placed on theFAO website.
Congress theme
The congress theme, “Food Chain: From Farm to Table,” helped carry out the event’s objective to define policies and mechanisms to assure that people of the world will have safe and sufficient food at all times.
Cancun was the stage to present and discuss issues related to production, sustainability, transport, process and distribution of raw materials and final products.
American Feed Industry Association President Joel G. Newman and AFIA Vice President of Feed Regulation and Nutrition Richard Sellers attended the event and each moderated or presided over a session.
“Given the obstacles presented with the European travel, the meeting was a success by having so many countries represented,” said Newman.
AFIA president Joel Newman
“The pre-meeting conference on Latin American feed regulation, with industry and regulators discussing items of mutual concerns, was a great success.”
Presentations from the conference will soon be posted on theIFIF website.
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