Markets and Regulations Challenge US Renderers Editor’s note – Due to illness, Render’s editor was unable to attend the National Renderers Association spring meeting held in late April in Chicago, IL, and immensely thanks the association’s staff for providing the following information. he National Renderers Association (NRA) held its spring business meetings at the end of April where there was much discussion about the devastating porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) not only affecting the United States (US) and Canadian pork industries, but how it might impact rendered pork product markets and prices. The Fats and Proteins Research Foundation (FPRF) held its business meeting in conjunction with NRA, providing members of both groups an opportunity to focus on the many issues facing the rendering industry. NRA’s various committees addressed pressing matters, beginning with the Animal Protein Producers Industry (APPI) where Dr. David Meeker, senior vice president, NRA Scientific Services, discussed the progress made with the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) on negotiating a common audit for dual certification in APPI’s North American Rendering Industry Code of Practice and AFIA’s Safe Feed/Safe Food program. When a new audit is drafted, the APPI steering committee will review and provide comments. Meeker also reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended permission through the end of this year the use of ethoxyquin at 150 parts per million in rendered products while FDA reviews a food additive petition for approval. During the Feed Regulation Committee meeting, Meeker mentioned that NRA has submitted its comments on FDA’s proposed rule, Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Food for Animals, with hopes that FDA will provide some indication on the direction it plans to take based on industry comments by this summer (see “New Feed Regulation” in the February 2014 Render). Committee members were encouraged to review the draft NRA comments on another FDA proposed rule, Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food, as comments were due May 31, 2014. Steve Kopperud, Policy Directions, Inc. addressed a potential concern regarding the traditional way in which the Association of American Feed Control Officials and FDA have interacted on definitions for animal feed ingredients. There is the potential that all animal feed ingredients will be required to go through a new approval process at FDA, although some ingredients could possibly receive permanent or interim waivers. NRA Feed Regulation Committee members will monitor the situation for possible involvement in the future. The PEDV situation was discussed at some length. Dr. Ross Hamilton, Darling International, Inc. explained that although the virus has been detected in spray dried blood plasma, it has not been determined if the virus was active or inactive. Nonetheless, the pork industry is taking a precautionary stance with some producers removing all pork-derived rendered products from porcine feeds, including pork meat and bone meal and, in a few cases, choice white grease. The feed committee moved to establish a voluntary contribution fund to support needed crisis management research. The first project, a risk assessment by the University of Minnesota, has already begun with NRA co-funding along with other organizations, including the National Pork Board. NRA’s Environmental Committee Chairman Robert Vogler, Valley Proteins, Inc. reviewed a list of complex Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues (see chart 1), including due dates for compliance certifications, tune-ups, and energy assessments for liquid-fueled boilers under new maximum achievable control technology rules. He also discussed litigation pending before the US Supreme Court challenging EPA’s adoption of the Greenhouse Gases Tailoring Rule. Vogler explained that when EPA determined carbon dioxide was a pollutant regulated under the Clean Air Act, some 800,000 emission sources were essentially brought under the act’s regulatory scheme, including hospitals, schools, churches, and commercial buildings. To avoid this, EPA issued the tailoring rule in 2010 to raise the threshold for regulation of carbon dioxide so only larger sources would be subject to the new rules. The question before the court is whether EPA has the authority to re-write the Clean Air Act in this way by unilaterally declaring when to regulate or not. Vogler also talked about EPA’s ongoing review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone. The agency is considering tightening the standard further to 60 parts per billion, a level that would put most of the United States in non-attainment, affecting the ability to expand industry and possibly leading to tougher nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds standards in new and existing air permits. Vogler noted that pollution from China is a significant and growing contributor to the ozone levels in the United States. T 12 June 2014 Render www.rendermagazine.com
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