Livestock feed controls review: consultation

Background

To control the spread of BSE, the UK introduced various pieces of legislation between 1988 and 1996, culminating in the reinforced feed ban on 1 August 1996 which prohibited animal protein from being fed to farmed animals, with very limited exceptions (See Appendix 1 for more detail).

The reinforced feed ban was implemented in the EU in 2001 with the adoption of Regulation (EC) 999/2001, which is now assimilated law in Great Britain (the new name for retained EU law)

In Great Britain (GB) compliance with the feed controls is monitored through the NFA, a monitoring programme conducted by APHA, an executive agency of Defra that is responsible for TSE surveillance in GB, including on behalf of Scottish Ministers. APHA inspectors inspect and approve premises that produce, store, or use livestock feed. The inspections include taking samples of livestock feed for testing for the presence of banned components, including animal proteins. The purpose of the NFA is to protect animal and public health.

The NFA and the reinforced feed ban, alongside other BSE controls such as passive and active surveillance and the removal of Specified Risk Material (SRM) in abattoirs^[13], have greatly reduced the incidence of BSE in the UK. In 2001 there were 1,113 confirmed cases of BSE compared to just five cases of classical BSE occurring since 2014.

The prohibitions on the feeding of animal protein to farmed animals no longer reflect current scientific knowledge or the level of TSE risk however, as research has shown that poultry and pigs are not naturally susceptible to TSEs. Additionally, as pigs and poultry are naturally omnivorous, they have evolved to eat a diverse range of food of both plant and animal origin.

In light of this updated scientific research, in 2021 the EU allowed:

• Poultry PAP in pig feed
• Porcine PAP in poultry feed
• Insect PAP in pig and poultry feed
• Ruminant collagen and gelatine in non-ruminant feed.

These amendments are part of the EU TSE roadmap to review TSE controls in the light of the reduced incidence of TSEs and increased knowledge of the diseases. The UK supported the roadmap when it was an EU member. The amendments automatically apply to Northern Ireland (NI) under the provisions of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland^[14].

Risk assessments completed in June 2023 have been conducted by the APHA, on adopting these same changes in the GB. These risk assessments indicated that the overall risk of an animal in the UK being infected with a TSE due to these legislative relaxations is very low and is not estimated to increase the level of TSE infection and spread. The Advisory Committee of the Microbiological Safety of Food^[15] (ACMSF), a committee of independent experts that provides advice to the Government on questions relating to microbiological issues and food, concluded that the risk assessments provide public health assurance for this policy change if other key BSE controls remain in place^[16]. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is a public sector body which is part of the Scottish Administration but independent from Ministers. It is responsible for food safety, food standards, nutrition, food labelling and meat inspection in Scotland. Based on the advice from ACMSF, FSS determined that no public health risk assessment is required in relation to adopting these changes.

It is important to note that these changes would be deregulatory. This means that businesses will only make use of the new powers if it is beneficial for them to do so.