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QS – Report on 2011 Outlook for 2012
International network expanded
Feed safety must not stop at national borders,
and QS is therefore stepping up the process of
international exchange to ensure that the lessons
learned from the dioxin incident do not culminate in
a isolated national solutions. The GMP+ International
(Netherlands), Ovocom (Belgium), AIC (Great
Britain) and QS standard owners met in June 2011
to share experiences and expand the system of
communication in the event of crisis. GMP+ and QS
took advantage of the meeting to extend the mutual
recognition that has been in place since 2006. This
recognition now also includes trade, transport,
storage and transshipment of feed. QS now operates
bilateral agreements in the feed sector with
standards in five European countries.
Safety standards further improved
Flawless feed forms the basis for the production of
safe food of animal origin. Dioxin findings in mixed
fat at the beginning of 2011 raised serious questions.
Our actions during the last year were geared towards
protecting the QS scheme even more effectively
against weak points in the future.
Two early revisions on March 1 and July 1, 2011 to
take rapid measures that extended well beyond
the legal requirements. Following these revisions,
feed production must be strictly separated from
the production of other products. The requirements
relating to traceability of feed material have been
extended; as of the beginning of 2012, it must be
possible to clearly match each compound feed
delivery to the farm or agricultural operation
receiving the delivery. New control plans have been
introduced for feed monitoring and the existing
plans revised. Fatty acids and mixed fats may not be
marketed until they have been approved safe. There
are short deadlines for sampling, dispatch to the
laboratory and the documentation of analysis results.
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March 2006: swine fever in North Rhine-
Westphalia
Cases of swine fever are found in the
Recklinghausen district. QS suspends audits
in the restriction zones, observation zones and
buffer zones.
Feed sector
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February 2006: first meat with QS certification mark on the self-service shelves of
the discounters
Having become established at the service counters, meat bearing the QS certification
mark is now also making inroads into the self-service shelves and can be found at
the discount chains in February 2006 for the first time. This represents a key step
for the scheme participants, as it shows that the retail sector attaches ever greater
importance to quality assurance based on the QS certification mark.
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Qu a l i t y A s s u r a n c e .
Fr om f a rm t o s h o p .