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TS2.3 Country Note QM-Milch (new)

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Dit document is beschikbaar in 3 verschillende talen

Versie: 1 mei 2024

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1. Introduction

In the context of the „Futtermittelvereinbarung QM-Milch“ (Feed Agreement QM-Milch) dairy cattle feed in Germany 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 TS 2.3 Country Note QM-Milch and is part of the GMP+ FSA module

2. Scope, application and certification

2.1. Scope of the Country Note

This Country Note contains requirements for the inspection and monitoring of specific undesirable substances in feed materials and compound feed delivered to dairy farmers participating in the QM-Milch program, including the assessment of the results and informing QM-Milch of these results and a number of other elements.

2.2. Application

This Country Note applies to the GMP+ certified companies supplying feed materials and/or compound feed to dairy farmers for direct feeding.

The country note facilitates to demonstrate a GMP+ certified company meets the QM Milch requirements and therefore can be used 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

2.3. Certification for companies

Additional scope: QM-Milch

The certification is applicable 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 feed materials and compound feed to dairy farmers, who participate in the QM-Milch program.

3. Normative references

This Country Note can only be used in addition to the following GMP+ FSA (Feed Safety Assurance) scopes:

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

In case the GMP+ certified company delivers soy and/or compound dairy feed containing soy then this Country Note must be used in addition to at least one of the following GMP+ FRA (Feed Responsibility Assurance) scopes:

  1. RTRS segregation (MI 5.1)
  2. RTRS mass balance (MI 5.1)
  3. Responsible dairy feed (MI 5.3)
  4. Responsible feed (MI 5.6)

For a definition of ‘soy’ see F 0.2 Definition list.

Nuttige tip

The requirement to have at least one the mentioned FRA scopes does not apply when other products than soybeans, soybean products or compound feed containing soybeans and/or soybean products are delivered to the dairy farmer.

4. Terms and Definitions

See F 0.2 Definition list.

5. Communication with the customer

The certified company must receive from the customer in writing the following information:

  1. the species or categories of animals for which the feed is intended
  2. type of feed/name
  3. compliance with QM-Milch criteria required
  4. consent to forward the VVVO-number as a part of the EWS notification.

Nuttige tip

The certified company can pro-actively send a circular to all customers requiring abovementioned information.

Nuttige tip

Instead of ordering the feed in writing each time, the dairy farmer can have a written agreement with the certified company stating that all delivered feed, relevant to QM-Milch production, complies with the QM-Milch requirements.

The certified company must make the status of the delivered feed clear to the customer via a positive declaration. In this context, please see the relevant GMP+ requirements in respect of a positive declaration (TS1.8 – Labelling and, if applicable, R5.0 - Feed Responsibility Management Systems Requirements, chapter 4.5).

The certified company writes down in a contract with the customer which scope the feed complies with. The following requirements apply:

  1. the status of the feed must be communicated to the customer on delivery at the latest;
  2. only certified companies that are certified according to the applicable scope are allowed to make a statement about the status of the feed.

Nuttige tip

Examples of positive declaration for:

Feed product:

Possible statements:

Compound dairy feed without soy

“GMP+ FSA assured”

Compound dairy feed containing soy under MI5.3

”GMP+ FSA assured”

and

“Responsible diary feed”

Additionally, there must be a reference to the supply chain model on the invoice.

Compound dairy feed containing soy under MI5.6

”GMP+ FSA assured”

and

“Production and Trade of responsible feed”

Additionally, there must be a reference to the supply chain model on the invoice.

6. Monitoring

6.1. General

The GMP+ certified company has a monitoring plan to monitor the feed delivered to dairy farmers participating in the QM-Milch program.


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 (TS 1.7 Monitoring) associated with the R 1.0 Feed Safety Management Systems Requirements.

6.2. Sampling and Analysis

Representative samples must be taken by the GMP+ certified company (or on behalf of the certified company) in accordance with the requirements according to TS 1.6 Sampling.

The analyses must be carried out by a GMP+ Registered laboratory. See TS 1.2 Purchase.

6.3. 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.

Nuttige tip

To become a member of the QM-Milch group in the GMP+ Monitoring database, the GMP+ certified company must sign up once, using the designated form. As soon as the application has been received, the certified company is invited via the GMP+ Monitoring database to join the QM Milch group. The GMP+ Monitoring database is available on the website of GMP+ International.

7. Assessment and follow-up Measures

7.1. Limits

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

Parameter

QM-Milch action limit

QM-Milch rejection limit

Aflatoxin B1

0,001 mg/kg (1 ppb)

0,0025 mg/kg (2,5 ppb)

Dioxin

0,5 ng WHO-PCDD/F-TEQkg (ppt)

n.a.

Dioxin-like PCBs

0,5 ng WHO-PCDD/F-TEQkg (ppt)

n.a.

Non-dioxin-like PCBs

n.a.

10μg WHO-PCDD/F-TEQkg (ppb)

Nuttige tip

When an action limit or rejection limit is exceeded, the GMP+ certified company must act in accordance with the relevant GMP+ requirement (see R 1.0 Feed Safety Management Systems Requirements). The limits specified in this Country Note relate to the measures as referred to in § 7.2.

7.2. Exceedance of a limit

If a rejection limit from paragraph 7.1 is exceeded the feed is not suitable for delivery to dairy farmers who participate in the QM-Milch program.

The GMP+ certified company must undertake the following measures if a QM-Milch action limit or QM-Milch rejection limit of the delivered feed is exceeded:


Measures to be taken in case of exceeding the:

Parameter

QM-Milch action limit

QM-Milch rejection limit

Aflatoxin B1

Dioxin

Dioxin-like PCBs

Non-dioxin-like PCBs

Nuttige tip

QM-Milch can be notified via info@qm-milch.de. By writing this e-mail address on the relevant place in the EWS notification form, the notification will be sent to that e-mail address.

7.3. 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 severity of the incident. The certified companies are obligated to provide the required information, for instance regarding their efforts to find the root cause of the contamination and regarding the results of the extra inspections. This information is treated confidentially by QM-Milch.

The certified companies must keep documented information to demonstrate that the processes have been carried out as required.

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 relevant 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 § 6.2 and § 6.3 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.

Where to find more about the GMP+ International Feed Support Products

Fact sheets

More information: https://fsd.gmpplus.org/pagina/6/fact-sheets.aspx/
Review fact sheets: GMP+ Portal

https://portal.gmpplus.org/en-US/

GMP+ Monitoring database

More information: https://fsd.gmpplus.org/pagina/1281/gmp-monitoring-database.aspx
Access database: GMP+ Portal

https://portal.gmpplus.org/en-US/