14 AllAboutFeed.net - Vol 20 - No 5 - 2012

MANAGEMENT

Tereos Syral recognises

importance of European

feed ingredients safety codeSince the recent development

of the European Feed

Ingredients Safety Code (EFISC)

more and more feed busi-

ness operators strive for the

EFISC certifi cation of their

feed materials manufactur-

ing facilities. Arnaud Fabrega,

regulatory affairs manager at

Tereos Syral, explains why his

company has chosen this feed

safety management system and

how it brings added-value to the

company.

By Dick Ziggers

Tereos Syral is a leading European manufacturer of starches, starch sweet-eners, proteins and alcohol, and is a member of the AAF, Association des Amidonniers et Féculiers, the trade association of the European starch industry. With about 4 million tonnes of cereals processed annually, the com-pany produces about 1.5 million tonnes of wheat and corn-based products for the animal feed market. Proteins

(corn gluten meal, vital wheat gluten and soluble wheat proteins), fi bre-rich ingredients (wheat gluten feed, corn gluten feed and distillers dried grains with solubles), moist and liquid feed ingredients and energy-rich ingredients (corn germs), as well as starch, sweet-eners and polyols are used in animal nutrition for farmed animals, calf milk replacers, starter feed, pet food, aqua-feed, etcetera. A recent acquisition has

extended the product portfolio to potato products (potato protein, potato fi bre and protamylasse).Tereos Syral has shown long time com-mitment to total feed safety in order to provide safe feed to the livestock and its customers downstream. It has chosen the EFISC and is now one of the fi rst inter-national feed companies getting success-fully EFISC certifi ed for all its operation-al plants on the European continent.

Aerial view of the Tereos Syral

plant in Marckolsheim, France

AllAboutFeed - Vol 20 - No 5 - 2012 15

Need for European global standardArnaud Fabrega, regulatory affairs manager at Tereos Syral, illustrates the background which led Tereos Syral to choose the EFISC: “Previously, a mix of GMP feed safety standards were applied throughout the group, based on histori-cal situations and the national markets that were served. Besides that, some countries have not historically been linked to a national feed safety stand-ard. It created a situation where we had to implement different requirements of the local schemes within our company. A situation which showed to be costly and not really helpful for trading cross borders,” he says.In the context of the European single market and trade globalisation, there has been a growing need for a harmo-nised certifi cation at European level that would make quality management easier and support fair and transparent compe-tition between suppliers. Being a Europe wide certifi cation standard, EFISC allows international groups to implement the same system, regardless of which mem-ber state the factories are based in.Fabrega explains: “The application of this harmonised feed safety assurance system strengthens our reliability. The EFISC system provides a total focus on feed safety and is science based. Cus-tomers are therefore guaranteed that the products have been produced to one specifi c cohesive standard, regardless of country of production or destination. As such, it supports our customer sat-isfaction policy by providing a higher level of transparency.”This is in line with the policy of the European legislation on feed hygiene that also encourages the development, dissemination and use of both national and community guides to good prac-tice. The contents of these guides to good practice are practicable through-out the community for the sector which they refer to. They are suitable for com-pliance with the hygiene and HACCP requirements of that regulation. These guides may be used on a voluntary ba-sis by the feed business operators. EFISC’s European guide to good prac-tice for the industrial manufacturing of safe feed materials has been developed

“to provide an EU harmonised, volun-tary feed safety management guide for the feed materials industry and their customers,” explains Peter Brattinga, EFISC manager. In order to facilitate the use by the EU operators, the guide has been translated in all 23 com-munity languages and is available on the website of EFISC and the European Commission DG Sanco. “The text provides guidance for compa-nies on how to establish their own feed safety management system in accord-ance with the relevant EU legislation, including requirements for the manage-ment system, prerequisite programmes, risk control (HACCP), withdrawal and traceability based on decades of experi-ence by the manufacturers involved,” he says.

Independent certifi cation and recognitionRegarding the certifi cation proce-dure this independent certifi cation is transparent for all feed partners, and strengthens the reliability of the verifi -cation of Good Hygiene Practices along the whole production chain. “Mutual recognition between EFISC and other well-established feed safety standards is under negotiation,” says Brattinga. “It will enhance the recognition from all stakeholders along the whole feed pro-duction chain, while maintaining feed safety,” he adds.EFISC indeed provides the standards and framework for independent, approved third party certifi cation of feed materi-als processes against ISO based criteria with the assistance of selected certifi ca-tion bodies. In that way, the scheme meets the demands from customers of feed materials manufacturers on getting trustworthy information on the feed ma-terial products and processes.

Specialised standard & effi ciencyDeveloped by the industry’s specialists, EFISC is especially designed for specifi c sectors like the starch processing indus-try. Fabrega highlights that the code is well adapted to what Tereos Syral does in its factories. The feed safety require-ments are more understandable by local teams. The use of specifi c fl owcharts,

process description, risk analysis by product and production steps under the ‘same’ language and enhances the integration of the EFISC quality scheme in local quality system. “The scheme also refl ects that we produce mainly feed materials, rather than fi nished feed products, and as such gives us the fl ex-ibility we need while maintaining feed safety and quality,” he says.

Arnaud Febrega, Tereos Syral’s regulatory affairs manager.

Tereos Syral: Key fi guresTurnover € 1.6 billion

Number of plants 10

Processed cereals 3,700,000 t

Processed tubers 350,000 t

Employees 1700

Products:

Starch & derivatives 1,800,000t

Alcohol 500,000m3

Vegetable proteins 200,000t

Co-products 1,300,000t

Tereos Syral industrial sites:

16 AllAboutFeed.net - Vol 20 - No 5 - 2012

MANAGEMENT

The experience with EFISC at Tereos Syral confi rmed the following main advantages of the audits:• EFISC approved auditors are per-

ceived with good fi eld experience and knowledge, striving for useful and pragmatic comments

• A strong focus is realised - on the housekeeping, - on how feed operators establish

their control plan, - on the HACCP- based risk assessment. • Robust supervision is done on the

controls which are in place in the feed operator system, the monitoring of control results.

So the benefi ts of the EFISC approach consist of strengthening the HACCP quality principles by an effi cient man-agement system and control monitoring. The implementation of the EFISC re-quirements and the related audits partic-ipate in the continuous improvement of the quality system resulting in products feed safety, as well as the strengthening of the feed safety culture in the factory.

Fabrega strongly believes that EFISC is really a required choice for feed materi-als manufacturers. “EFISC certifi cation must be considered as an independent and transparent business-to-business tool to support the operator in its aim for products of excellence, meeting the regulatory obligations and answering our customers’ expectations in Europe,” he says. AAF

More information on EFISC can be found at www.efi sc.eu/

Tereos Syral supplies feed

materials to the feed

industry, such as corn

gluten feed (left) and vital

wheat gluten.