Animal feed producers urged to adhere to quality

DAR ES SALAAM: ANIMAL feeds producers in the country have been reminded to present samples of their products to the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA) for quality checks before bringing to the market.

TVLA’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Stella Bitanyi made the statement in Dar es Salaam after a team of experts from the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and TVLA completed an inspection of animal feeds industries.

During the inspection in Arusha Region, the team held a meeting to train the producers, distributors and consumers of the animal feeds over the importance of verifying quality of their products.

“The producers should bring to the agency their samples so that they could also get advice for more improvements. The law also requires that substandard animal feeds must not get into market to protect livestock keepers,” Dr Bitanyi stated.

She said the producers should ensure that they continue producing quality animal feeds so that livestock keepers could get good results from their livestock. Leading a team of experts, TVLA’s director of diagnostics Dr Zachariah Makondo said it was important that the produced animal feeds reach the market after quality verification.

“Manufacturers who defy the directive of ensuring that their products are tested would face legal measures,” stated Dr Makondo said.

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Speaking over inspection exercise which they conducted in Northen Zone regions of Arusha, Manyara and Kilimanjaro, he said they established that some suppliers of the animal feeds have been mixing those feeds without following procedures.

“It is wrong for sellers to buy different animal feeds from manufacturers then mix them and sell it to livestock keepers,” he warned.

Some manufacturers commended the inspection exercise in Arusha Region since it was aimed to ensure animal feeds have good quality and become safe.

The TVLA is expected to continue providing education and doing inspections on resources and animal feeds to bring productivity in the sector.