International Report By Stephen Woodgate, President, World Renderers Organization Changing of the Guard and Ready to Grow Table 1. WRO annual dues structure. Type 1: Top 10 countries in rendering tonnage $2,500 Type 2: All other countries and associations $1,500 Type 3: Individual companies (from countries with no national association) $1,500 Type 4: Associate supporting membership $2,000 Type 5: New members (type 1 or 2) 50% discount first year only Note: Dues will apply from October 2013 for fiscal year 2013-2014. The World Renderers Organization (WRO) held its annual meeting in Naples, FL, on October 23, 2013. Without a doubt, the great location and good timing of the meeting helped to draw an excellent presence from attendees of the National Renderers Association meeting held the same week. Several key issues were discussed and approved during the meeting. WRO Code of Practice In 2010, a “road map” for WRO was adopted by the membership. One of the recommendations was to produce best-practice guidelines as a signal that WRO can provide useful advice and uniform approaches to rendering on a global scale. As developed, there are two linked documents that consider two separate aspects. In principle, it is expected that such guidelines could be useful to both renderers and agencies with a global perspective, such as the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Codex Alimentarius, and World Organization for Animal Health. Rendering around the world is carried out with different equipment, different mixes of raw material, and different regulatory environments. For these reasons, best practice is not necessarily applicable on a universal basis. Therefore, as a starting point, WRO has prepared guidelines rather than best practices, which may not be applicable, or even legal, in some countries. Terms of references for the WRO guidelines were prepared and a range of topics that could be suitable subjects for guidelines were listed. It was proposed that the first guideline be about hygiene and product safety and is titled “Guidelines for Hygienic Rendering.” It was recognized that some countries have well-established legislation or codes of practice relating to the safety of rendered products. The WRO guidelines are not intended to be used in place of existing legislation or codes of practice, but extracts from existing codes and legislation have been incorporated into the guidelines. They have been developed as minimum requirements that can be augmented in different countries depending on circumstances. While countries may have codes and legislation that differ from the WRO guidelines, the guidelines should demonstrate that renderers who face common issues around the world can apply universal principles to address these issues. The guidelines for hygienic rendering recommend that renderers implement quality assurance programs to control product safety and that those programs include a hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) plan. This recommendation is in line with international codes and legislation relating to food and feed safety. There are also international codes and recommendations about how to prepare HACCP plans that tend to focus on the assessment and control of hazards to human health that might arise in food for human consumption. Application of HACCP principles to rendered products and animal feeds presents difficulties because the products are at least one step removed from the human food chain. This makes it difficult to assess the impact of hazards associated with rendered products on human health. To help renderers apply and implement HACCP plans as recommended by the WRO guidelines, the organization has prepared a second document titled “Model HACCP Plan for Rendering.” It is intended that renderers can use the model plan as an example of how to develop a HACCP plan in general. In addition, renderers can adopt specific parts of the model plan that apply to an individual establishment’s circumstances. The model HACCP plan has been developed according to the Codex Alimentarius guidelines for the application of HACCP systems. A major part of the model plan is a list of hazards that might arise in the production of rendered products and assessments of these hazards in terms of risk of occurrence and severity to animal and human health. It is intended that these hazard characterizations will be helpful to renderers who are developing or revalidating HACCP plans. Other parts of the model plan provide explanation of the Codex Alimentarius guidelines and working examples of how the Codex guidelines can be implemented. Both documents were drafted by Bill Spooncer of Australia and further developed by Dr. David Meeker of the United States and Martin Alm of Europe. This author assisted in the final editing. Both documents are available for free download at www.worldrenderers.com subject to filling in a simple contact details form. WRO Budget and New Dues Structure During the annual meeting, a budget was proposed to allow WRO to develop activities in accordance with the organization’s principles of engagement and advancement of the global rendering industry. Dues have been maintained at $1,000 USD per country since the formation of WRO over 10 years ago, but it was decided these needed to be increased to allow budget demands to be met. In 2012, the idea of reviewing the dues structure whilst maintaining the ethos of “one country, one vote” was agreed upon. A formal proposal showing five types of members was made and endorsed at the annual meeting (table 1). 22 December 2013 Render www.rendermagazine.com
Render_Dec13
To see the actual publication please follow the link above