1. Introduction

In the context of the „Futtermittelvereinbarung QM-Milch“ (Feed Agreement QM-Milch) dairy cattle feed must meet a number of requirements, of which a QM-Milch approved feed safety system must guarantee that these requirements have actually been met. These requirements are summarized in this Country Note QM-Milch, which refers to the relevant GMP+ requirements and describes a series of specific requirements.

The QM-Milch program is intended to guarantee that only high quality milk is being produced and processed. More information is available on the website of QM-Milch
(www.qm-milch.de).

This document is referred to as TS2.3 Country Note QM-Milch and is part of the GMP+ FSA module.

2. Scope, Application and Certification

2.1. Scope of the Country Note

In addition to a reference to existing GMP+ requirements, this Country Note also contains extra requirements in respect of feed companies that deliver in the context of the QM-Milch program, which was established by the German dairy industry for the production and delivery of feed for dairy cattle (cows).

The requirements imposed on feed companies relate to the inspection and monitoring of specific undesirable substances in dairy cattle feed, the assessment of the results and informing QM-Milch of these results and a number of other elements.

This Country Note contains all requirements that are important to QM-Milch e.V. In part, this consists of a summary and / or reference to relevant requirements from other GMP+ standards. This can more or less be considered a mnemonic. Another part concerns additional (‘new’) requirements. Below, this distinction is represented in an overview (as an aid in its use).

2.2. Application

A GMP+ certified company that delivers feed to dairy farmers and wishes to demonstrate it meets the QM Milch requirements, can apply this Country Note as addition to the application of one of the other applicable GMP+ standard documents.

Whether the relevant requirements of QM-Milch have been met is demonstrated by means of a certificate issued by the certification bodies accepted by GMP+ International.

In practice, this concerns producers and suppliers of compound feeds and feed materials of whom the GMP+ feed safety management system covers at least one or several of the following scopes:

1. Production of compound feed
2. Production of feed materials
3. Trade in feed
   (specified in compound feed, premixtures, feed additives and/or feed materials)

2.3. Certification for companies

Additional scope: QM-Milch

The certification is carried out for each company site (as with the certification for other GMP+ standards). The certification according to this Country Note is explicitly registered in the GMP+ International Company Database and listed on the GMP+ certificate.

Such a company will be listed as a QM-Milch approved feed supplier and is approved to deliver dairy cattle feed to farmers, who participate in the QM-Milch program.

3. Terms and Definitions

See F0.2 Definition list.

4. Monitoring

4.1. General

The GMP+ certified company has a suitable monitoring plan to monitor dairy cattle feed produced for the dairy farmers participating in the QM-Milch program and delivered to them.

The monitoring plan must at least meet the GMP+ requirements regarding monitoring and include periodic and systematic monitoring for the following substances:

• Aflatoxin B1
• Dioxin
• Dioxin-like PCBs
• Non-dioxin-like PCBs

In this context, please see the relevant GMP+ requirements in respect of monitoring (TS1.7 Monitoring) associated with the R1.0 Feed Safety Management Systems Requirements.

4.2. Sampling and Analysis

The samples must be taken by the GMP+ certified company (or on behalf of the certified company) in accordance with the requirements according to TS1.6 Sampling.

The analyses must be carried out by a laboratory as described in TS1.2 Purchase.

4.3. Reporting and Sharing data

The analysis results must be uploaded to the GMP+ Monitoring database and shared with the „QM-Milch“ group. This allows the GMP+ certified company to anonymously share the analysis results with the manager of QM-Milch. Based on the analyses carried out by the certified companies in this Country Note, the manager can draw up reports.

5. Assessment and follow-up Measures

5.1. Limit

For the analyses carried out in accordance with the requirements of this Country Note, the following limits apply:

5.2. Exceedance of limit

If a limit from paragraph 5.1 is exceeded:

1. The GMP+ certified company must notify GMP+ International immediately at the moment of detection; this must be done immediately and with the help of the designated web form. GMP+ International reserves the right to test the accuracy.
2. GMP+ International must immediately inform QM-Milch e.V. and the certification body of the certified company of the information of the web form,
3. The certified company must analyze the feed again to confirm the result of the first analysis,
4. The certified company must check, based on an HACCP analysis, which products could have caused the elevated level and further analyze these products. The cause of the exceedances must be found. QM-Milch is notified of this.

5.3. Providing information

QM-Milch, respectively the regional services, have the right to ask the GMP+ certified companies to provide information regarding the size and the gravity of the incident. The certified companies are obligated to provide the required information, for instance, regarding their efforts to find the cause of the contamination and regarding the results of the extra inspections. This information is handled confidentially by QM-Milch.

QM-Milch and the regional services may decide to pay a visit to the GMP+ certified companies to have themselves convinced of the measures taken on site. The certified companies are obligated to provide the required information. This information is handled confidentially by QM-Milch.

In addition, GMP+ International notifies QM-Milch e. V. the same way, of exceedances observed in other proprietary inspections and uploaded to the GMP+ Monitoring database. This applies both to § 5.2 and § 5.3 of the Country Note.

Feed Support Products

That was a lot of information to digest and one might ask, what is the next step? Luckily we can offer support for the GMP+ Community when doing this. We provide support by means of various tools and guidances but as each company has a shared responsibility to feed safety, and therefor tailor-made solutions cannot be offered. However, we do help by explaining requirements and provide background information about the requirements.

We have developed various supporting materials for the GMP+ Community. These include various tools, ranging from Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) lists to webinars and events.

Supporting materials related to this document (Guidelines and FAQ’s)

We have made documents available which give guidance to the GMP+ requirements as laid down in the module GMP+ FSA and GMP+ FRA. These documents give examples, answers to frequently asked questions or background information.

GMP+ Monitoring database

The GMP+ Monitoring database contains analysis results from you and other users. It is possible to generate reports based on this data. We have a manual and a frequently asked questions document available.