The present Guidelines have been prepared by the Fisheries Department of FAO. The first drafts were written by Q. Dick Stephen-Hassard (consultant) and Albert G.J. Tacon (formerly Fishery Resources Officer within the Inland Fishery Resources and Aquaculture Service of FAO), who both served on the Secretariat for the FAO Expert Consultation on Animal Feeding and Food Safety held in Rome from 10 to 14 March 1997; the consultation produced the first FAO Draft Code of Practice for Good Animal Feeding (FAO, 1998. Animal Feeding and Food Safety. FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 69. FAO, Rome, 48p)[1].
The Guidelines represent an international collaborative effort with information drawn from Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Africa. The draft Guidelines were first presented in February 1998 at the Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the World Aquaculture Society in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), and in March 1998 at the Second Conference of the Feed Manufacturers of the Mediterranean in Reus, Spain. A shortened Working Paper entitled Draft Technical Guidelines for Good Aquaculture Feed Manufacturing Practice was then published within the International Aquafeed Directory and Buyers Guide 1999 (Turret Rai PLC, Uxbridge, U.K.) for wider distribution. On the basis of the comments received on the working paper (and with the additional technical assistance of Warren G. Dominy and Susan Frazer-Dominy of The Oceanic Institute, USA), a revised second draft was then sent in March 2001 to over 200 representatives of the aquafeed and feed manufacturing industry (including related allied industries such as feed ingredient suppliers, feed manufacturing equipment suppliers, and aquaculture producer associations) in over 50 countries within all the major regions of the world. The present Guidelines have been finalised with due consideration to the responses received.
The present Guidelines are preliminary and will be evaluated and revised as information becomes available through their use in support of Article 9 of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) concerning Aquaculture Development, and in particular in support of Article 9.4.3 of the CCRF concerning the selection and use of feeds and additives (FAO, 1997. Aquaculture development. FAO Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries No.5. FAO, Rome. 40p)[2].
Distribution:
All FAO Members and Associate Members
Interested Nations and International Organizations
FAO Fisheries Department
FAO Fisheries Officers in FAO Regional Offices
Interested Non-Governmental Organizations
