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POLAND EMBRACING FEED SAFETY:
Promising developments in Eastern Europe
O by GMP+, Poland
ver the past decade, compound feed production in Poland has more than doubled to over 11 million tonnes per year, a development boosted by increased demand for poultry feed and cattle feed. As Poland has taken its place as the largest poultry producing country in the European Union, feed safety has become top of mind. Here we gain some insight into a conversation with Magdalena Zgiep-Porzucek (PZZ Wałcz), Tomasz Wertelecki (ETOS), and Johan den Hartog (GMP+ International) about Poland’s progress. Johan den Hartog, Managing Director at GMP+ International, recently came home encouraged after making a trip to Poland. GMP+ International, owner of the world’s largest feed safety assurance scheme, had organised multiple seminars in this Eastern European country over the course of several years. But this time was different. “On this trip, it became clear to me that Poland has really turned the corner: feed safety is becoming top of mind”, Den Hartog wrote afterwards, on his blog at GMP+ International’s website.
Embracing feed safety
“It’s not just the numbers”, Den Hartog emphasises in his office at GMP+ International’s headquarters in Rijswijk, the Netherlands. “I knew the numbers of Poland’s feed sector growth. I knew the number of GMP+ Feed Safety Assurance (FSA) certificates had been skyrocketing for the last few years. What I was really impressed by in Poland, was the dedication of the people we met. “Ten years ago, we could barely find an audience in Poland for our seminars. Now, people drive for hours to meet us and hear about our scheme. I saw a true embrace of feed safety assurance and that was extremely encouraging.” As of 2019, over 2,700 companies in Poland are GMP+ FSA certified, a tenfold increase compared to 2009. Due to this surge, almost 80 percent of the Polish compound feed industry is now certified. 78 | March 2019 - Milling and Grain