On 16 June, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MOA) published its Announcement No.307 to highlight 9 basic stipulations for feed manufacturing by farmers in terms of the application of feed raw materials, additives, and veterinary drugs, effective on 1 Aug., 2020. This implies that the use of feed additives containing growth-promoting medicines will also be prohibited in the breeding industry. This follows the ban in the feed industry starting on 1 July, 2020, according to the MOA's Announcement No.194 released on 10 July, 2019.
Key stipulations are:
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No sales of self-made feed: When manufacturing feed, farmers can use their own facilities. However, the feed can only be used for their own animals, and not for external sales. Services like OEM and equipment leasing are also prohibited.
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Raw materials: Except for frequently-used natural plant raw materials (excluding medicinal plants), farmers are only allowed to use substances listed in the MOA's Catalogue of Feed Raw Materials to manufacture feed.
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Additives: Materials not mentioned in the MOA's Catalogue of Feed Additive Varieties should not be used by farmers to manufacture feed. When applying feed additives in the production of feed, farmers shall strictly follow animal application scope and maximum use limitations, in accordance with the Norms for the Safe Use of Feed Additives.
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Veterinary drugs: In daily feed production, farmers can only add coccidiostats and traditional Chinese medicines, which are used in the production of commercial feed, with approval of the MOA; this is completely consistent with requirements for commercial feed production. Farmers must take a careful look at the application regulations, quality standards, labels, and specifications of veterinary drugs when buying drugs to mix with feed for their sick animals. A practicing veterinarian's prescription is necessary for the procurement of prescription medicines for veterinary use. Veterinary drug-containing feed shall be labeled and stored separately.
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Ruminant feed: Facilities for ruminant (cattle, goat, deer, alpaca, etc.) feed production can't be used for the production of other animal feed. No animal-derived ingredients (except for milk and dairy products) can be added into ruminant feed.
Last year, China's breeding industry consumed total feed of approximately 350 million tonnes, 60% of which was commercial compound feed (210 million tonnes), and 40% farmers' self-made feed. Upon implementation of the stipulations, the requirements for feed production by farmers are expected to be more explicit and conform more with the prohibitions and restrictions of commercial feed. This will help maintain application orders throughout feed manufacturing and ensure the quality of farm products.
These regulations are not without risk, however:
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Some OEM factories might be hurt after the sale of self-made feed is banned
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Farms using self-made feed will face increased fodder costs
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The polarisation of large feed enterprises (with supporting services) and small feed enterprises will likely appear, even though the industry will see accelerated resource integration, such as cooperation and M&As between upstream companies and downstream companies, and the professionalisation of sales personnel
Find more information about this article at CCM Corn products China newsletter or email emarket1@cnchemicals.com.
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