Europe - Limiting the GMP+ Gatekeeper Option for Transport
From January 1, 2013, it will only be possible to use certified transport for the transportation of GMP+ feed in the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany and probably France. The details of this decision to limit the Gatekeeper Option for Transport will be worked out this year together with the partners, and will be implemented in the relevant GMP+ standards.
The decision to limit the use of the Gatekeeper Option for Transport reflects the wishes of the market to create transparency and is also in line with the feed legislation, which requires companies to take their own responsibility. The decision is possible because sufficient certified transport is available.
For a number of years GMP+ certified producers and traders have had the option to use non-certified road transport for the transportation of their products. In the standard GMP+ B2(2010) and GMP+ B3(2007) special requirements are laid down to use this type of transport. The company that uses this type of transport acts as a gatekeeper and is responsible for the transport to comply with the GMP+ requirements. The option of using this transport is referred to as the Gatekeeper Option for Transport.
The option was intended at the time (in 2004) for use in areas where insufficient or no certified transport was available. At that time this specifically meant all countries outside the Netherlands. By using the Gatekeeper Option for Transport, traders and producers can still participate in the GMP+ FSA scheme. So far, the use of this option outside the Netherlands is still possible.
This Gatekeeper Option for Transport was always intended to be temporary, for the following reasons:
•Every company operates on the basis of its own responsibility. Eventually every company (including a transporter) in the feed chain must assume its own responsibility, assure its own products and activities and demonstrate this by means of a certificate. In this way the GMP+ FSA scheme matches the requirements of the EU Food & Feed legislation. This assumption is still applicable within the GMP+ FSA scheme.
•Transparency towards the market about who actually complies with the GMP+ requirements. In the current situation, non-GMP+ certified transport trucks are used for transporting feed materials which causes a lack of clarity and confusion among the recipients, because it is not clear to them whether or not the transport has been assured adequately.
•Continuing to allow the Gatekeeper Option for Transport does not honour the efforts which many transporters have made by obtaining their own GMP+ certificate.
In a number of Western European countries (for example Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom), a large number of transporters have now been certified through participation in the GMP+ FSA scheme, but also through participation in comparable national schemes (GMP-Ovocom, QS, TASCC, Qualimat). In fact, in these areas sufficient certified transport is now available.
After close consultation with important stakeholders, in the last meeting of the International Expert Committee (March 2011) it was decided to limit from Janaury 1, 2013 the use of the Gatekeeper Option for Transport for more regions than just the Netherlands. From that date Belgium, the UK and Germany will also only be able to use certified transport for the transportation of GMP+ feed.
Further, it is also the intention to limit the use of the Gatekeeper Option for Transport in France, but a final decision will be made after consultation with relevant stakeholders.
The exact details of this decision to limit the Gatekeeper Option for Transport will be worked out during the following months in close collaboration with the partners who are represented in the decision-making (sub)committees of GMP+ International and will be implemented in the relevant GMP+ documents.
GMP+ International will also examine the possibilities of certification of smaller road transporters.
