During 71st NRA Annual Convention
By Tina Caparella
Whether it was listening to Big Al’s jazz music at the Funky Pirate, sipping a café au lait with beignets in the French Quarter, or tossing colorful beads from a balcony on Bourbon Street, renderers found time to enjoy New Orleans, LA, despite the serious issues discussed at the 71st National Renderers Association (NRA) Annual Convention held in October.
NRA’s committees took care of business first. The Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) Committee opened with a conference call from Dr. Lisa Ferguson, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), who first thanked renderers for their cooperation with the agency’s bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) surveillance program currently underway. She said the majority of the samples – about 80 percent – are coming from renderers and “4D” (dead, dying, diseased, and downer) facilities. APHIS is evaluating various options for when the surveillance program ends next year, with a decision likely in the spring.
Steve Kopperud, Policy Directions, said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA are still working on finalizing a proposed rule after receiving “mountains of comments” to their advanced notices of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) released last summer. He added that the Informa Economics study was well received and appreciated by the agencies.
Several U.S. and Canadian renderers remarked that they have seen a drop in deadstock being delivered to their facilities since both governments have been offering subsidies for deadstock tested in the surveillance programs. Humphry Koch, West Coast Reduction, Ltd., mentioned that while Canada’s new minister of agriculture appears to be determined to remove specified risk materials (SRMs) from animal feed, the government is taking the position that all tallow is equal as long as it meets the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), now known as the World Organization for Animal Health, 0.15 percent insoluble impurities level. The Canadian govern-ment has provided $800 million in financial aid since BSE was discovered in May 2003, mostly to producers.
“None of that has come to the rendering industry,” Koch commented. “We’ve been on our own since the beginning. Most of us have had to adapt to a very difficult situation very quickly.” Most Canadian renderers now process ruminant material in separate facilities.
TSE Committee Chairman Mark Myers, National By-Products, LLC, encouraged NRA members to contribute to the TSE Trust Fund to help battle potential government regulations now and in the future.
The Legislative Action Committee gathered next. Kopperud recapped legislation recently signed by President George W. Bush providing federal tax credits for biodiesel amounting to one dollar per gallon for “agribiodiesel,” produced from animal fats and vegetable oils, blended with petroleum diesel and 50 cents per gallon for biodiesel made from recycled cooking oil.
Tom Cook, NRA president, explained that the USDA responded in October to the association’s request last spring that the agency reevaluate their $50 million program on bioenergy uses of SRMs. USDA canceled that program and recently issued a 98-page Federal Register notice on alternative uses for SRMs.
A Worldwide Welcome
The convention officially opened with NRA Chairman Doug Anderson, Smithfield Foods, Inc., welcoming the 300-plus attendees to the annual event. He discussed the challenges the industry has faced recently and the trials that are still to come (see “Association,” page 18).
Floyd Gaibler, USDA deputy under secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, gave the keynote address, emphasizing that the current market situation of the U.S. agriculture economy is strong and that the $62 billion projected agriculture export figure for 2004 is a record.
“This is in spite of lost markets due to BSE and AI [avian influenza],” Gaibler commented. China is now the fifth largest customer for the United States and challenges abound in keeping export markets open, such as trade agreements and sanitary issues.
With regards to BSE, Gaibler remarked that trade rules are not widely understood or followed despite OIE guidelines allowing trade of low-risk products. He believes OIE standards will be the norm for world trade, but is uncertain when that will occur. USDA is working on opening up the China market to non-risk products such as protein-free tallow, and opening the U.S. borders to Canadian beef, but the agency wants to ensure that decision is “iron clad.”
Renderers from other parts of the world shared their trials and tribulations, beginning with World Renderers Organization (WRO) President Andy Bennett, Talloman, Australia. He explained the WRO’s purpose is to address areas of mutual interest among countries instead of companies, to provide education and information, and to express positions to government and world organizations. Bennett switched gears and briefly spoke on the Australian rendering industry, which is battling with BSE issues although the disease has not been found in that country.
N.C. Leth Nielsen, president, European Fats Processors and Renderers Association (EFPRA), celebrated his 25th consecutive year of attending the NRA convention; he has been in the rendering industry for 39 years. He said EFPRA consists of 20 members from 17 countries, and although Category 3 material can be used in animal feed, the feed ban is still in place.
“We are indeed still facing a lot of challenges in Europe,” Nielsen commented. He believes that a reintroduction of animal proteins in the European Union (EU) is possible but it will take at least two years and told attendees not to worry about possible competition from the European market.
“When we look at the market potential compared to the animal by-products available for feed, there is certainly enough space for all of us,” Nielsen stated. “We will gain more from cooperation than from competition.”
New Zealand Renderers Association President Trevor Arnold, Lowe Corporation, Ltd., gave an overview of the country’s rendering industry, which consists of 36 plants. Grass is the method of feed because it grows year-round in New Zealand’s temperate climate. New Zealand has 2.6 million cattle, 4.5 million sheep, and 24.5 million lambs and exports 75 percent of its meat and bone meal and 85 percent of its tallow.
Arnold stated that despite being free of all OIE List A diseases, which includes BSE, other TSEs, and anthrax, the country’s rendering industry is being required by export markets to meet the same requirements imposed on those countries that have BSE.
Government Comes Under Fire
The second morning of the convention provided opportunities for government officials to share the actions they’re taking in the wake of BSE, while renderers took the occasion to voice their concerns how additional regulations will impact their livelihood.
Dr. Graham Clarke, director, Animal Industry Division, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, took the podium first to discuss his country’s situation. Feed ban compliance has become an issue, not with the 99 percent compliance rate among renderers and feed mills, but with producers, causing Canada to examine requiring removal of SRMs from animal feed. Since enforcement of the feed ban at the producer level is difficult, the government feels eliminating SRMs from all animal feed will reduce the risk of ruminants being fed ruminant material. Clarke stated that even if further bans were put in place, no one is certain trade markets will reopen.
Dr. John Clifford, deputy administrator, USDA/APHIS Veterinary Services, followed with a brief overview of the agency’s BSE surveillance program, which will always be in place at some level, and the actions being taken to reopen the Japan and China markets.
“China wants tallow to be made from raw material free of SRMs,” Clifford explained. “They want those raw materials to come from farms where no BSE has ever been found and no sign of BSE was found before and after the butchering process. They also want the material to be protected from SRM contamination during collection, transportation, and storage. And they want the finished product to be inspected and tested by methods that they have approved, but they didn’t spell out what those methods are.” He continued reading the list of China’s demands, and while some could be met, Clifford stressed, “We do not want to enter into agreements that do not meet international standards.”
Dr. Burt Pritchett, FDA/Center for Veterinary Medicine, recapped the ANPR released in July, in which 1,500 comments were received – 1,400 from individuals and 100 from associations, state agencies, etc. Comments supporting the SRM ban cited the conclusion of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis study and an international review team (IRT) assessment that the ban would reduce potential cattle exposure by 88 percent. Comments opposing the ban included that the IRT’s comparison of U.S. risk to the EU’s risk is not valid; the current feed ban has nearly 100 percent compliance; any regulations should wait until after the current accelerated BSE surveillance program is complete; and banning SRMs from animal feed would have an enormous economic and environmental impact.
With all that said, renderers took turns expressing their frustrations to the speakers. Michael Langenhorst, Anamax Corporation, wanted the agencies to understand the ramifications of an SRM ban and gave as an example the chronic wasting disease situation in Wisconsin.
“There has not been one pound of [deer] material rendered in the last two years, everything’s going to the landfill now,” he stated. “The implications are much worse than the affect of what you think you’re trying to solve.”
Dennis Griffin, Griffin Industries, said that neither country (Canada or the United States) should be making decisions that are not based on science.
“Why in the world don’t you rustle up and say [to other countries] we are addressing the issue, we are making our meat safe for our consumers, and we do not have to take such dramatic action,” Griffin exclaimed. “We’re bending to pressure that has long ago left food safety and is in the economic brain. You must take that into account when you’re drafting such dramatic changes to the industry.” He added that no one will guarantee that markets will reopen if further bans are put in place and that science doesn’t warrant the actions.
“I urge you to reconsider what you’re doing,” a frustrated Griffin continued. “You’re going to hurt the very people you’re trying to help. We have much more serious diseases than BSE, AI being one of them, that we’d better get a handle on around the world that will affect people far more than BSE is ever going to.”
In response, Pritchett said, “I remain optimistic that ultimately the measures that will be put in place will be science-based. They won’t be purely based on the situation in Europe.”
Clarke replied, “We realize that BSE, from a public health point of view in the world, is basically irrelevant. We’ve made that point to Asia, time and again.” He admitted that, unfortunately, there’s more than just science and logic in play at this time that impact decisions, but ignoring the situation has a downside as well.
Dr. Don Franco, Center for Biosecurity, Food Safety, and Public Health, adamantly stated that the history of feeding meat and bone meal in the United States for over 100 years, along with the controls put in place immediately after discovery of the disease in the United Kingdom, is evidence that the infectious BSE agent does not exist in the United States for either transmission or amplification.
“All the [surveillance] tests continue to prove so and I can assure, I’ll make a public statement, will continue to prove so,” Franco concluded.
Barry Glotman, West Coast Reduction, made one last comment: “You believe that we have a safe meat supply in North America…and I urge you to set a North American example and open up the borders between Canada and the United States. And if other countries want to trade with us, they will, because we have set world examples in the past.”
Exports are Important
Kent Swisher, vice president, NRA International Programs, began the International Symposium by explaining that in 2003, 15 percent of total U.S. meat and bone meal and 35 percent of U.S. fats and grease production was exported. A goal of NRA’s International Market Development Committee is to reestablish export markets, especially for those products that have no association with BSE such as non-ruminant proteins and animal fats and oils.
German Davalos, NRA regional director, Latin America, said Mexico is importing all rendered products except ruminant meat and bone meal. Honduras, on the other hand, is allowing imports of ruminant meat and bone meal exclusively for pet food manufacturing.
“These are small volumes but it sets a precedence that we can use for other countries to show them it’s not a big deal,” Davalos stated. Honduras has placed restrictions on poultry product imports from 10 U.S. states due to AI; however, poultry protein meals from North Carolina had just been approved for import.
In the Andean region, imports of all animal proteins are prohibited because of a misconception that U.S. produced products are a mixture of tissues from different species, which is how products are produced in that region. NRA provided information to authorities to dispel those misconceptions.
NRA has successfully sponsored seminars in the region, focusing on biosecurity and targeting feed manu-facturers, nutritionists, government officials, and traders. In Mexico, over 130 people attended with 300 industry representatives present at the Andean region seminar.
Neville Chandler, NRA regional director, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, said that government thinking throughout the world is that to do nothing and then some-thing happens is irresponsible. After Mexico, Turkey is the most important tallow market, where exports are up over 2003 figures, with most going into soap manufacturing. Chandler warned, though, of challenges in Egypt, which was a 150,000 metric ton per year market for meat and bone meal. The Egyptian government wants the United States to make a more positive move – either 12 months of negative tests or removal of SRMs – to ensure that no BSE-positive material is being imported into Egypt.
Biodiesel is growing significantly in Europe. The European Commission has set a target of using two percent biodiesel by 2005 and 5.75 percent by 2010. To meet this goal, it would require eight million tons of rapeseed – equivalent to 85 percent of the present crop. Chandler sees an opportunity to export materials, perhaps marked to prevent use in feed, for biodiesel production.
Dr. Yu Yu, NRA regional director, Asia, said renderers should promote their products as the actual ingredient it is, not as a “commodity.” He also stated that pet food is the future in China.
The Board of Directors meeting finished off the convention. Tom Cook praised the industry for its commitment to the association, which has received 15 new members in the last two years, representing nearly the entire North American rendering industry.
December 2004 Render