NGFA Likes Feed Nutrition Regulations

August 18, 2000

The National Grain and Feed Association has commended the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for adopting a significant improvement to its model regulations that pertain to the nutritional suitability of commercial feeds. AAFCO, which took the action this month during its annual meeting in Charleston, WV, is the professional organization of state and federal feed control officials whose model bill and regulations are adopted by many states to govern commercial feed.

NGFA said the changes adopted by AAFCO represent a "prudent and workable response" to concerns raised by the feed manufacturing industry. The NGFA is the U.S.-based nonprofit trade association of about 1,000 grain, feed, processing and grain-related firms comprising 5,000 facilities that handle more than two-thirds of all U.S. grains and oilseeds.

At issue was a section of AAFCO's model regulations that requires feed, its labeling and its intended use to be "suitable" for the species and stage of growth of the species to which it is to be fed. Previously, the regulation required that all commercial feed intended for use in swine, poultry and fish, as well as milk replacer for veal calves and herd-replacement calves, either: 1) meet the nutritional requirements set by the Committee on Animal Nutrition of the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council (NRC); or 2) that the feed manufacturer execute a written affidavit attesting to the nutritional adequacy of the feed "based upon valid scientific evidence."

The NGFA, through its Feed Industry Committee, had urged AAFCO to change these provisions because they had become inappropriate and difficult to enforce, in part because of revisions made by the NRC in 1998 to its nutritional guidelines for swine. The new NRC guidelines for swine dropped the previous "one-size-fits-all" approach in favor of a "dynamic modeling" concept that evaluated multiple variables, such as genetics, energy density of the diet, environmental and growing conditions, and other factors.

While this approach made the NRC guidelines more appropriate as nutritional indicators, it made it more difficult to apply a single regulatory standard to determine whether a given feed was suitable for the various stages of growth of the animal for which it was intended. Further, the NRC has signaled its intent to use the same "dynamic modeling" approach when updating nutritional guidance for dairy cattle in 2000, horses and small ruminant animals in 2003, and poultry in 2004.

As a result, the NGFA said, feed manufacturers faced the prospect of having feed control officials placing a "stop sale" on feed products that they deemed to be nutritionally unsuitable from using an outdated AAFCO regulation that no longer was appropriate. The NGFA also noted that the AAFCO suitability regulation applied to all commercial feed manufactured for swine, poultry, fish and milk replacer for veal calves and herd-replacement calves, even if the feed was manufactured pursuant to the specific instructions of the feed buyer.

In response to the NGFA's concerns and suggestions, AAFCO took action to amend its model regulation on suitability. While retaining the authority for feed control officials to challenge the suitability of a commercial feed, the new AAFCO regulation imposes the following conditions:

--All references to the NRC requirements as being the basis for making a determination of feed suitability were deleted.

--Feed control officials now must have "reasonable cause" to believe the feed is not nutritionally adequate before they can challenge the suitability of such feed. Feed control officials still can use the NRC guidelines as a reference point, but they are not to be used as a "bright-line" regulatory standard.

--If the feed product is challenged by a state feed control official for nutritional adequacy, the feed manufacturer may submit an affidavit or use an "alternative method" (such as a face-to-face meeting) to assert that the feed is suitable based upon valid scientific evidence. Importantly, such certification from the feed manufacturer will suffice as "prima facie" evidence that the feed is suitable, with no further regulatory action to challenge suitability authorized.

--All "customer-formula feeds" are exempted from the nutritional suitability provisions, since these formulas are based on the specifications and desires of the customer, for which "scientific evidence" may not be available. Customer-formula feeds are defined by AAFCO as: "a mixture of commercial feeds and/or feed ingredients, each batch of which is manufactured according to the specific instructions of the final purchaser."