Key fact: On 8 October 2026, EFSA published a call to support risk assessment of alternative methods for the use and disposal of animal by-products and derived products. The application deadline is 10 December 2026. This is a scientific-support call, not an authorisation to supply a new feed ingredient. EFSA grants listing
What the new call covers
EFSA published a new call on 8 October for support in assessing alternative methods for the use and disposal of animal by-products and derived products. Applications close on 10 December 2026. Its scope is broader than animal-feed production, and the announcement is a funding opportunity for scientific support rather than a completed assessment of a particular process. EFSA grants listing
For professional ingredient buyers, the immediate commercial question is how to evaluate a supplier's proposed processing route without confusing innovation with permission. A convincing process description can justify further investigation. It should not, on its own, move an unfamiliar material into an approved feed-supply plan.
The practical response is to separate the method, the establishment and the intended use before reviewing the lot offered for purchase. Those checks answer different questions, and a positive answer to one should not conceal an unresolved answer to another.
Distinguish scientific assessment from authorisation
The European Commission explains that applications for alternative animal by-product methods go through the national competent authority. EFSA conducts the risk assessment, while the Commission handles risk management and decides whether to authorise the method. A scientific opinion and an authorising decision are therefore distinct stages. Commission scientific-advice guidance
Our recommended purchasing control is to ask the supplier to identify the exact legal basis for the proposed operation. If the offer relies on an alternative method, request the applicable decision and its scope rather than a general statement that the technology has been assessed. Have a qualified compliance reviewer confirm the material, process and use covered.
Where the process remains under development or assessment, keep it in a prospective-source file. Record the outstanding decision and the evidence needed before a commercial review can proceed. Do not assign a regulatory completion date merely because a supplier expects one.
Start with the material and its intended use
EU animal by-product controls distinguish three risk categories. The Commission describes Category 3 as low-risk material and identifies it as the category relevant to feed for food-producing animals, subject to safeguards. That description does not make every Category 3 material eligible for every feed application. Commission animal by-product overview
For a purchasing review, request the source species, raw-material description, category and intended finished product. Ask whether the quoted material is a defined single-species grade or a mixture. Give the compliance team the actual destination and target animal species, rather than asking for a generic feed-grade declaration.
We recommend treating a change of source material as a review trigger. A process previously accepted for one input should not automatically carry purchasing approval for a different input. Keep the proposed change visible, with responsibility for deciding which regulatory and technical checks need to be repeated.
Check the plant activity separately
The Commission maintains links to approved animal by-product establishment lists and explains that competent authorities approve or register establishments and publish updated lists. The listing framework identifies activities, so the establishment's identity belongs beside the operation being proposed. Approved establishments guidance
Our buying recommendation is to match the plant name, address and approval or registration number to the relevant official record. Resolve differences between the trading company, production site and dispatch location. Ask the responsible reviewer whether the recorded activity covers the proposed operation; do not treat the presence of a number as a universal clearance.
Retain the evidence used for that decision and its check date. If a supplier changes production sites, return the new site to review instead of copying the previous establishment's status into the order.
Connect the process description to commercial evidence
The Commission's framework emphasises safe sourcing, treatment and end uses, supported by traceability and risk-based measures. Processing evidence should therefore connect the incoming material to the supplied product, not stand apart as an isolated technology claim. Commission EU-rules overview
For commercial qualification, we recommend requesting a current product specification, representative analysis and a description of the relevant process controls. Let the technical team define the appropriate nutritional, microbiological and quality evidence for the application. A headline protein percentage should not replace that assessment, and a lot Certificate of Analysis should not be treated as proof of the method's legal status.
Before release, link the accepted specification to the production site and identified lot. Agree how changes of raw material, process or site will be disclosed. This keeps a promising circular ingredient under a workable purchasing control without overstating what a research announcement establishes.