Understanding FAMI-QS: Objectives, Benefits and Requirements

Food is an inevitable part of living. Therefore, food safety is one of the prime concerns not only for the consumers but also for every stakeholder connected to the food industry.

It is equally important to maintain the quality of animal feed. There is always a possibility of animal feed being contaminated with undesirable substances such as heavy metals, drugs, pesticides during any stage of the feed chain. These substances can be transmitted to humans through the food chain, causing serious health problems. Hence, paying attention to the animal feed quality is of utmost importance. To curtail the health risk and harmonize safety requirements, FAMI-QS certification was launched in 2004.

At present, more than 47 countries have certified companies associated with the FAMI-QS code (source).

FAMI-QS Overview

The Feed Additive and preMixture System (FAMI-QS) is a standard that aims to encourage and address quality, safety and legality as per the European feed hygiene requirements.
In order to align the code with the current animal feed legislation and various activities carried out on national, industrial and/or association levels, it takes into account the principles of European regulations, the Codex Alimentarius, as well as HACCP principles found on various international documents, using the ISO 9001 framework. The code also complies with the guidelines of IAF MLA.

But before we dive into FAMI-QS,
Let’s understand the term ‘Feed Speciality Ingredient’

A Specialty Feed Ingredient is defined as any ingredient added intentionally to feed which normally cannot be consumed as feed itself. It is added with the purpose of improving performance, profitability, and efficiency or preserving the animal feed/ animal product. Vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants are some of the examples among others.

FAMI-QS Objectives

• Enhance the feed quality
• Reduce the risk element for animal feed
• Enforce legal compliance in the domain of feed safety
• Minimize the potential risks

FAMI-QS Applicable to

• Production
  Production of compound feeds, animal feeds, premixtures and additives
• Trade
  Buying, handling, storage, transporting and selling goods and services of animal feeds

The production/trade covers ingredients obtained from the following process:

• Chemical
• Bioprocessing
• Mining
• Extraction
• Mixing
• Formulation

FAMI-QS Encompasses the Following Areas

• Management systems for feed quality and safety
• Traceability procedures
• Product regulatory compliance
• Human resources
• Infrastructures
• Maintenance and cleaning of the equipment used
• Waste control management

General Requirements

• The Organization shall establish, document, implement and maintain a management system in accordance with the requirements of this Code. The management system shall be continually adapted in line with regulatory developments and customer requirements.
• The structure of the management system shall be specific to the organization of the operator and should include policies, requirements and process documents that reflect a commitment to feed safety.
• The management system shall ensure that all activities carried out by the operator that could impact the quality and feed safety of the product are consistently defined, implemented and maintained at all levels in the organization.
• The management system shall include quality procedures to ensure that the product consistently conforms to the authorization of the feed additive and the specification of the premixtures(s) thereof.

Documentation Requirements

• Quality policy and quality objectives
• Quality manual
• Documented procedures and work instructions
• Documents and records needed for effective implementation of processes
• Quality requirements by the applicable regulatory authorities.

FAMI-QS Benefits

Implementation Benefits

• It is a tool that demonstrates that your product is meeting the regulatory standards of feed safety and quality.
• Minimizes significant animal feed risks and helps enhance the quality and safety of the product.
• Facilitates exchanges at the international level with a global perspective
  Supports organizations to regularize legal compliance for global feed safety management system.
• Reduces the frequency and cost for end-product testing.

Collaboration Benefits

• The certification is globally acknowledged and has international validity all over the world with more than 1000 operators successfully implementing the code.
• Expert knowledge and industry experience translated into the state-of-art set of rules, practices and standards.
• The administration process of the code is handled by FAMI-QS Asbl, a non-profit organization. They partner with certified bodies and run various sessions and surveillance programs to maintain harmony, transparency and quality of the work.
• Highly effective management system approach

The Transition from FAMI-QS Code Version 5.1 to 6

Please Note: The FAMI-QS Certificates Version 5.1 will no longer be valid after 01 October 2020.

The revision was published on 2nd October 2017 and introduced some crucial changes. The most evident and noticeable change was on risk-based thinking and process approach. Although this was always part of the code, the new version defines this code in a better manner.

At 4C, we have a qualified team of FAMI-QS auditors for consulting services and FAMI-Qs training with more than 15 years of experience. Till now we have empowered 40+ clients with the successful completion of 8000+ hours of FAMI-QS training along with the conduction of 250+ audits. To enhance the animal feed quality and implement FAMI-QS in your company, talk to 4C consultants now.