FEED/RESIDUE CERTIFICATION Q & A

Some of the often asked questions LMA has received regarding the feed/residue certifcation program and answers to those questions are:

Q: Can I remove the residue statement from the market and owner's certificates because either I or the producer doesn't want to certify to that part of the statement or the packer doesn't require it?
A: You can do anything you want but by removing the drug residue language from the statement you are putting yourself at a liability and marketing risk if the packer ask for it and it is not on there. Also, by having the drug residue statement on the owner's certification, it facilitates you not having to separate out the certified from the noncertified animals when selling them to buyers who demand it. If, in the unlikely case, a packer insists you remove the drug residue portion of the statement, we recommend you take it off the market/dealer certification statement for the particular packer but leave it on the owners certification statement to facilitate selling the animals to any and all buyers regardless of their particular demands.

Q: Can I use the continuing statement on my check-in sheets?
A: Yes, in fact, a number of markets are doing that as a back-up to their obtaining the statement on each consignment on sale day. That way if someone fails to sign or is unavailable to sign the statement, they can go back into their records and, if the person has previously signed the certifcation statement, the market then can use that previous signature to certify for that consignment as well.

Q: Are all mammalian proteins prohibited under the FDA feed ban rules?
A: No! The "exempted" protein and non-protein materials are: blood and blood products; gelatin; milk products; pure porcine or pure equine protein products; inspected meat products, such as plate waste, which have been cooked and further heat process for animal feed; poultry, marine and vegetable proteins; grease, tallow, fat, oil, amino acids and dicalcium phosphate.

Q: What if my feed mill custom mixes their feed and doesn't label the product?
A: In that case, we recommend you ask the feed mill or feed store for a statement certifying that the feed they are selling you does not contain prohibited mammalian/ruminant materials.

Q: Are all the packers and buyers accempting LMA's universal certification statement?
A: Yes, as far as we know. While some packers and buyers are still sending out different statements, we know of no one who has refused the universal statement. We strongly recommend that regardless of what certification statement the markets receive from their buyers that they use the universal statement that LMA provided to them as it was written to legally protect the markets and their consignors as much as it was to protect the buyers.

Q: What if an producer refuses to sign the certification statement, what do I do then?
A: That is the pruducer's choice however you should make him/her aware that if he/she does not sign, the animal will have to be sold as non-certified and the price he/she receives for that animal may be adversely affected.

Q: Do I have to certify feed calves as well as slaughter cattle?
A: Not unless your buyers begin to ask for the certification. However we have become increasingly aware that a number of packers and feeders are beginning to demand the certification on feed calves as well. Thus, it is probably only a matter of time until the markets will have to certify all classes of cattle sold through their facilities.

Prepared by Nancy Robinson, LMA Vice President for Government and Industry Affairs and Ernest Van Hooser, LMA Counsel.