FEDIAF | PET GAZETTE | 17
companies meet the legislative requirements
and produce pet food that fully meets the
needs of pets and their parents in terms of
health, safety and enjoyment.
FREE TRADE IS ESSENTIAL
FOR EUROPEAN INDUSTRIES
FEDIAF DEFINES
FOCUS AREAS FOR
2019 AND BEYOND
As the voice of the European pet food industry, FEDIAF is
busy working with authorities, regulators and academics
on a regular basis to support industry’s efforts to provide
safe and nutritious pet foods to the 80 million European
pet owning households. FEDIAF president Mechthild Exner-
Herforth (vice president of corporate affairs at Mars Petcare
Europe) defines sustainability, self-regulation, free trade
and education as key focus areas for the European pet food
sector
SUSTAINABILITY AND THE PET
FOOD INDUSTRY
Environmental considerations are very
important to FEDIAF and its members. We fully
recognise that pet owners want to feed their
pets in a way that respects the environment.
Sustainable raw materials, environmentally
friendly production as well as recyclable
packaging materials, all play a major role in
ensuring the long term sustainability of the pet
food industry.
Environmental challenges are expected to
increase further; the New Plastics Economy,
the demand for additional protein sources,
water scarcity as well as environmental
labelling. Representatives of the pet food
industry need to take a stand on these issues
and develop solutions together. To sharpen
our agenda and agree common goals, FEDIAF
will launch a Sustainability Task Force in 2019.
Taking its members on this journey, FEDIAF
www.petgazette.biz
is hosting a series of webinars for members
on the Product Environmental Footprint
project ran by the EU advising how pet food
companies can measure their environmental
footprint and how this information can be
communicated to pet owners.
HARMONISING SELF-
REGULATION IN EUROPE
One of the key strategies of FEDIAF is to
ensure that the legislation is appropriately
considered for the industry, not simply
lifted from the wider animal feed sector. To
support the existing legislation, Codes of
Practice have been developed to promote
best practice and create a level playing field
across Europe. An exciting development later
in 2019 will be a series of e-Learning tools on
the Good Practice Guide for the Manufacture
of Safe Pet Food and the Code on Good
Labelling Practice. These codes help pet food
For over half a century, free trade under
agreed rules has been a critical keystone for
global prosperity. It has helped lift millions
out of poverty, creating new opportunities
for manufacturers, workers, farmers, and
consumers. Increased trade has meant more
jobs and greater consumer choice at home
and abroad. It has led to the development
of sustainable cross-border supply chains
that tie companies and countries together
in shared success, thereby helping to
reduce conflict and encourage cooperative
relationships among nations.
It is difficult to predict how Brexit will
influence the market, as it is not yet clear
under which conditions the UK and Europe
will continue to cooperate, but FEDIAF is
calling for the free movement of pet food
products between the UK and Europe,
regardless of the outcome of the Brexit
negotiations.
Additionally, we are working on the
removal of existing trade barriers for pet
food by cooperating with the OIE (World
Organisation for Animal Health) in their
standard setting for safe products which
may be freely traded internationally. At the
same time international trade on internet
platforms has increased and continues to do
so. The challenge we are facing is protecting
the consumer from inferior products of
lower quality. There is an urgent need for
some mechanism of control, particularly
for products coming from abroad that often
do not comply with European rules and
standards.
EDUCATION GENERATING
TRANSPARENCY AND TRUST
Staying on top of what people are saying
about the pet food industry, how we are
perceived and building consumer trust is
important.
FEDIAF’s goals are:
• B
uilding and maintaining trust in
manufactured pet food
• C
reating a positive image of the industry
grounded in facts, science and expertise
• B
eing ambassador for responsible pet
ownership but also broader animal welfare
For more information on FEDIAF including
European market data, industry codes of
practice and the latest news, please visit:
www.fediaf.org
June 2019