In an effort to increase awareness of U.S. Soy and pave the way for future U.S. Soy imports and the sustainable feed industry, a USSEC delegation visiting Bulgaria during the month of April benefited from the unparalleled support of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Sofia and organized a meeting with the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA), an integrated government body that combines feed and food regulations and animal health under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Established in early 2011, BFSA follows the best European practices for the implementation of highest standards of controls in the areas of safety and quality of food, food and feed additives, veterinary medicine and animal welfare, and feed safety.
The USSEC – FAS – European Feed Industry Federation (FEFAC) delegation was received at BFSA by Dr. Petya Petkova Ivanova, deputy executive director; Dr. Penka Maneva Kaneva, head of the feed control department; and Dr. Georgi Chobanov, director of the animal health division. The delegation had the opportunity to discuss and learn the latest details of EU regulations and discussed how these affect Bulgaria. Major progress has been made towards application and the contribution of the relatively young Bulgarian agency was discussed.
The presence of FEFAC’s Alexander Döring during the visit to BFSA opened additional, significant opportunities in terms of future meetings with government and feed industry representatives, as well as synergistic action in the Bulgarian and larger EU region. Closer cooperation between FEFAC and BFSA’s involvement in future general meetings was also discussed.
Feedback from BFSA representatives was extremely positive, laying the basis for future contacts and collaboration. The interest and potential of U.S. Soy was clearly put forward and was well accepted. Due to the established relationships, USSEC should be able to benefit from this cooperation and position itself for enhanced, positive enforcement of its message and ultimate goal: increasing demand for U.S. Soy.