6 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE September 2024 The challenges of ending global hunger and food insecurity continue to intensify. Addressing these challenges requires the efficient production and distribution of safe, abundant, affordable, and sustainable supplies of grain, oilseeds, feed, and related products. At the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA), we are dedicated to delivering services and advocating for policies that empower the U.S. grain and feed industry to meet this critical global need. Since its founding in 1896, the NGFA has represented and served commercial businesses involved in the U.S. grain and feed industry. Although specific industry issues have evolved through the years, the NGFA’s core activities continue to focus on enabling U.S. agriculture to help satisfy the growing global demand for healthy, nutritious foods. FACILITATING EFFICIENT TRADE The NGFA is committed to advancing free-market principles and the use of necessary rules and standards that foster and sustain public trust and confidence. To that end, the NGFA has established and actively maintains five sets of Trade Rules to facilitate the purchase and sale of grain and feed products: 1) grain; 2) feed; 3) barge; 4) barge freight; and 5) secondary rail freight. The rules establish and promote a common understanding concerning the rights and responsibilities of buyers and sellers and are incorporated into most U.S. commercial contracts. The trade rules also provide a foundation for resolving disputes through the NGFA Arbitration System, a system created in 1901 and thought to be the oldest private commercial arbitration system in the United States. PROMOTING INNOVATION To be resilient and successful, animal agriculture and the feed industry depend on scientific advancement and innovation. That’s why the NGFA has strongly endorsed the Innovative Feed Enhancement and Economic Development (IFEED) Act (H.R.6687 and S.1842) introduced into the U.S. Congress in 2023. The bills would establish a new regulatory pathway at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for novel feed additives to make substantiated claims associated with enhancing animal production, safeguarding the environment and enhancing the safety of animal-derived foods. In addition, the NGFA advocated for and strongly supported the FDA’s recent withdrawal of a policy that had prohibited nutritive feed products from making animal production claims unless the product gained approval as a new animal drug. ENSURING FEED AND FOOD SAFETY The NGFA focuses on ensuring feed and food safety by supporting overall improvements in the U.S. regulatory framework and advancing industry compliance. In addition, the NGFA promotes systems and programs for feed manufacturers that enhance the safety and quality of feed and food products. Since 2011, the NGFA has been actively involved with the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance ‒ a broad-based public-private alliance of industry, academia, and government stakeholders ‒ organized to assist the human and animal food industry in understanding and complying with requirements established by the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). THE U.S. GRAIN AND FEED INDUSTRY: WORKING TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL HUNGER AND FOOD INSECURITY David Fairfield Senior Vice President, Feed National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) LEAD ARTICLE
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