• Each country, in which our members sell their product, has its own unique standards that also must be adhered to – a single global standard would interfere with the ability to adapt products to meet local standards
• Each customer/client also has its own individual standards – a single global standard would interfere with the ability to adapt products to meet the standards requirement by an individual company
• The standards would lead to a “commoditisation” of the feed industry – a manufacturer’s strength is based on its ability to differentiate its product from others – standardisation would undermine and remove this differentiation.
• Each company producing a feed or food product has its own unique business model and approach to its own market. As such, and in order to be successful in meeting its own client needs, equipment manufacturers must have the innovation and flexibility to tailor products offered according to a client’s need. “Commoditisation” only serves those who seek the lowest cost manufacturing and not the innovation and specialisation so vital to a vibrant and growing industry.
• Our members believe these types of standards programs as a ‘marketing tool’ to show that all products are of the same quality when in fact there is a range of qualities available. An example of this was in the appliance industry – the manufacturers in the proposing country would get the “standard brand mark” to show consumers that they had a high quality product but the product they were actually producing was of lower quality.
• The standards would quash innovation and would be a critical threat to the well being of the industry and in the end the development of the overall market. Unique tooling, process approach, etc. are what drives this industry. A set global standard would require an added step for each manufacturer to get approval of each innovation since it would deviate from the standard. This step would also allow competitors to get access to intellectual property, which is already a major issue.