Chairman's Update January 2024

The start of a new year is a fitting time to reflect on the past twelve months and to look forward to the year ahead for the ABP processing industry.

Twelve months ago FABRA UK and our members were assisting DEFRA and APHA in dealing with one of the worst ever outbreaks of Avian flu in the UK. Since then we liaised with APHA to learn from last years’ experiences to improve and streamline systems to deal with further outbreaks this winter. Thankfully,  so far this winter, the disease is being classed as low risk, although still of importance and we are ready to respond if things worsen.

Last October, FABRA UK, in partnership with the Environment Agency, organised a rendering sector awareness day,with 26 environmental regulators in attendance, with UK wide representation from the EA, SEPA, DAERA, NRW, Local Authorities and DEFRA. FABRA UK gave information on the environmental benefits of processing ABPs into sustainable, low carbon products and on how we minimise the environmental impact of our site operations. A series of rendering site visits have since followed to enable the Regulatory Officers to broaden their experience and knowledge of our sector.

Looking forward to 2024, the forthcoming review of UK BAT for preventing and minimising the environmental emissions and impacts from our industry is one of the most important challenges we face. Our sector is one of the first to go through the new UK BAT process, introduced to address BAT for UK industry after the UK left the EU. The equivalent and established EU BREF process has just concluded for the SA BREF review and FABRA representatives were involved in this with our European counterparts at EFPRA. The outcome of UK BAT will influence how our members operate their sites for years to come so it is important that we get this right.

UK Government has just launched consultations on proposed changes to energy efficiency and carbon emission schemes (CCA and UK ETS). Both affect our members who undertake energy intensive processes to safely process ABPs into useful products so the future schemes will impact on our energy efficiency and carbon reduction decisions and future investments. Our contribution to Government Net Zero targets is incredibly challenging for our sector, but we are making progress on different types of renewable energy and there is a positive future for rendered fats as renewable fuels for all types of transport. At the same time, our low carbon products assist our Foodchain customers in reducing the carbon emissions associated with their products and operations and we are seeing increased scrutiny of the carbon footprint of our products.

Changes to controls on imports to the UK have been on the agenda for some time now, with several postponements. The first phase of the new Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) is now scheduled to start from 31st January 2024. We hope things run smoothly and have assisted DEFRA on dealing  with animal by product derived products.

Also on the topic of animal health, DEFRA are working on the UK’s application for Negligible BSE Risk Status later this year. Meanwhile, FABRA UK is liaising with DEFRA on potential amendments to the Animal By Products Regulations to allow for non-ruminant (pork and poultry) PAP to be reintroduced into certain animal feeds. These are welcome developments that will have a positive impact for our sector and the wider food chain stakeholders and bring us closer in alignment with our EU counterparts.

 Jane Brindle
Chairman
FABRA UK

List of Acronyms

ABP – Animal By Products
DEFRA – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
APHA – Animal and Plant Health Agency
EA – Environment Agency
NRW – Natural Resources Wales
SEPA – Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
DAERA - Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs – Northern Ireland
European Renderers and Fat Melters Association (EFPRA)
CCA – Climate Change Agreements
UK-ETS – UK Emissions Trading Scheme
BAT – Best Available Techniques
SA BREF – Slaughterhouses & ABP Industries Best Available Techniques Reference Document
BTOM - Border Target Operating Model
PAP – Processed Animal Protein