THE International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF), American Feed Industry Assn. (AFIA) and European Compound Feed Manufacturers' Federation announced April 23 the official release of the "Global Feed Life Cycle Assessment" (LCA) guidelines developed by the U.N. Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)-led Livestock Environmental Assessment & Performance Partnership (LEAP).

The three groups are founding members of LEAP, which aims to improve how the environmental impacts of the livestock industry are measured and assessed.

These groundbreaking global LCA guidelines are an essential step to help reduce the impact of livestock products on the environment, the organizations said.

"The guidelines provide practical and science-based recommendations to assess the environmental performance of feed supply chains. They carry an international scientific consensus based on the input of 20 international experts in the drafting process and a thorough international public review which took place ahead of this official release," said University California-Davis professor and former LEAP chairman Dr. Frank Mitloehner.

"These guidelines represent a significant milestone for the global feed industry," IFIF chairman Mario Cutait said. "Sustainability is one of the key priorities for IFIF, and these global guidelines will enable consistent and credible environmental assessments with a view to reduce the environmental footprint of livestock products."

AFIA president and chief executive officer Joel G. Newman explained that "LEAP is an international and a multi-stakeholder process," which means the guidelines "reflect a common vision among partners, including FAO, national governments, private-sector organizations as well as (non-governmental organizations). This adds value to these globally harmonized metrics and will help meet our customers' expectations."

The guidelines can be accessed on the LEAP website at www.fao.org/partnerships/leap/en.

Volume:87 Issue:16