Codex code of practice
Codex Alimentarious Commission (CAD) was established in 1963 with the objective to develop International Food Safety Standards to protect human health, while facilitating trade in food, feed and agricultural products and resolving international disputes among member countries. The language of code about traceability was adopted from the Codex Committee on General Principles (CCGP) definitions with minor details concerning to feed ingredients and feed manufacturing. Being a member of the WTO, India has to enforce Codex Code of Practice (COP) in developing domestic feed and food safety standards. The entry of feed into the deliberations of Codex can be traced back to 2004, which was when its 27th general session formally approved a code of practice on good animal feeding after more than five years of intense negotiations involving governmental level bodies. The COP makes practical sense as a feed safety system for food producing animals. COP outlines good manufacturing practices and wherever applicable, hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) principles to control the hazards to the reasonably achievable extent in a bid for safety of food producing animals. The Code has been developed to ensure the safety of feed for human consumption through adherence to feeding practice at the farm level and good manufacturing practices during the procurement, handling, storage, processing and distribution of animal feed and feed ingredients for food producing animals. It distinctly mentions that animal products which could be a source of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), should not be used for feeding directly to or feed manufacturing for ruminants. Code also elaborates actions to be taken in order to prevent and reduce the heavy metals including that of lead contamination in foods from farm till consumers. To enforce the code in India, we have to prepare ourselves with new infrastructure i.e. new machinery, quality control equipments, trained manpower and storage facility. Besides the manufacture of cattle and poultry feed, the demands for pet foods, fish food and other specialized feeds will grow in Indian and international markets and our feed manufacturing system have to be updated to cater to the modern needs