30 March 2017

Transportation of category 3 SANDACH products

SANDACH is the acronym for "Animal Byproducts Not Destined for Human Consumption"

Today we want to talk about SANDACH products, animal materials that, for sanitary reasons or by decision of the operator, will not be destined for human consumption. To maintain food safety, a number of control measures must be maintained during treatment, storage and disposal. Similarly, pay special attention to transport and its traceability.

SANDACH products are classified into three categories depending on their risk to human and animal health: category 1, category 2 and category 3. According to this classification, of the Regulation (CE) Nº 1069/2009.

• Category 1 materials are those that pose a greater risk to health, such as TSE contamination, which contain banned or polluting substances.
• Category 2 materials include by-products that may pose a risk, even if they are not contaminated or contain prohibited substances.
• Category 3 materials are products fit for human consumption but are not used for commercial purposes.

Category 3 materials are foodstuffs of animal origin not used for human consumption. We refer, for example, to products composed of parts of slaughter animals, parts of game animals, poultry heads, some skins and feathers, tissues and bones, among others.

The absence of a law regulating the use and elimination of these animal by-products triggered a series of food crises and health warnings in the 1990s. That is why the Parliament and the European Council adopted a regulation establishing the mechanisms for their transformation and elimination.

These products and by-products are used, depending on their origin, for the production of animal feedstuffs, fertilizers, compounds or biogas, among other uses defined in article 10 of the Regulation 1069/2009.

The elimination of all Category 3 products is not a sustainable solution, both because of the high costs and because of the risks posed by the environment. However, Regulation 1069/2009 provides for various methods of disposal: by incineration, co-incineration or by an authorized landfill.

It should be noted that, according to the same regulation, it is the operating company that must be responsible for all phases, such as collection, handling, transportation, storage, distribution and disposal, where appropriate. This article will focus on the part related to transportation and logistics.

Collection, transport and traceability
These are some of the obligations of the operator in the field of collection, transport and traceability of category 3 products.

• Notify the competent authority before commencing the operations of generation, transport, handling, processing, storage, market introduction, distribution, use and disposal of SANDACH.
• Collect, identify and transport animal by-products without delay and in healthy conditions, which avoid risks to public and animal health.
• Guarantee the transport of products accompanied by corresponding commercial documentation or a sanitary certificate, stating the origin, destination, quantity, description and marking of the products.
• Keep track of the shipments, as well as systems that identify at all times the companies that have supplied and the companies that have supplied.
• In the case of intra-Community trade, label the containers, vehicles and containers in green.

Special tanks for SANDACH category 3 products
In Transportes F. Ramos, in addition to complying with all legal requirements, we have specialized cisterns for the transport of category 3 products. We believe it is appropriate to use containers exclusively for SANDACH products not to combine them with the transport of products for human consumption, since In this way we can guarantee the optimal food security.

The cisterns that are responsible for transporting this type of products are the "Jumbo", compartmentalised from 29000 to 31000 liters. These tanks contain separate compartments and independent exits, ensuring the traceability of the product, since at no time is mixed with other food products.