Heading 2309 : Preparations of a kind used in animal feeding.
This heading covers sweetened forage and prepared animal feeding stuffs consisting of a mixture of several nutrients designed :(1) to provide the animal with a rational and balanced daily diet (complete feed); (2) to achieve a suitable daily diet by supplementing the basic farm‑produced feed with organic or inorganic substances (supplementary feed); or (3) for use in making complete or supplementary feeds. The heading includes products of a kind used in animal feeding, obtained by processing vegetable or animal materials to such an extent that they have lost the essential characteristics of the original material, for example, in the case of products obtained from vegetable materials, those which have been treated to such an extent that the characteristic cellular structure of the original vegetable material is no longer recognisable under a microscope. (¥°) SWEETENED FORAGE Sweetened forage is a mixture of molasses or other similar sweetening substances (generally more than 10 % by weight) with one or more other nutrients. It is used mainly for feeding cattle, sheep, horses or pigs. Besides being highly nutritive, molasses enhances the palatability of foodstuffs and thus extends the use of products of low nutritive value such as straw, cereal husks, linseed flakes and fruit pomace which the animals would otherwise be reluctant to accept. As a rule, these sweetened preparations are fed directly to the animals. However, some of them combine molasses with highly nutritive foods, such as wheat bran, palm kernel or copra oil‑cake, and are used to make complete feeds or supplementary feeds. (¥±) OTHER PREPARATIONS (A) PREPARATIONS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE THE ANIMAL WITH ALL THE NUTRIENT ELEMENTS REQUIRED TO ENSURE A RATIONAL AND BALANCED DAILY DIET (COMPLETE FEEDS) The characteristic feature of these preparations is that they contain products from each of the three groups of nutrients described below : (1) "Energy" nutrients, consisting of high‑carbohydrate (high‑calorie) substances such as starch, sugar, cellulose, and fats, which are "burned up" by the animal organism to produce the energy necessary for life and to attain the breeders' aims. Examples of such substances include cereals, half‑sugar mangolds, tallow, straw. (2) "Body‑building" protein‑rich nutrients or minerals. Unlike energy nutrients, these nutrients are not "burned up" by the animal organism but contribute to the formation of animal tissues and of the various animal products (milk, eggs, etc.). They consist mainly of proteins or minerals. Examples of the protein‑rich substances used for this purpose are seeds of leguminous vegetables, brewing dregs, oil‑cake, dairy by‑products. The minerals serve mainly for building up bones and, in the case of poultry, making egg‑shells. The most commonly used contain calcium, phosphorus, chlorine, sodium, potassium, iron, iodine, etc. (3) "Function" nutrients. These are substances which promote the assimilation of carbohydrates, proteins and minerals. They include vitamins, trace elements and antibiotics. Lack or deficiency of these nutrients usually causes disorders. The above three groups of nutrients meet the full food requirements of animals. The mixing and proportions depend upon the animal production in view. (B) PREPARATIONS FOR SUPPLEMENTING (BALANCING) FARM‑PRODUCED FEED (FEED SUPPLEMENTS) Farm‑produced feed is usually rather low in proteins, minerals or vitamins. The preparations devised to compensate for these deficiencies, so as to ensure a well‑balanced animal diet, consist of proteins, minerals or vitamins plus additional‑energy feeds (carbohydrates) which serve as a carrier for the other ingredients. Although, qualitatively, these preparations have much the same composition as those described in paragraph (A), they are distinguished by a relatively high content of one particular nutrient. This group includes : (1) Fish or marine mammal solubles in liquid or viscous solutions or in paste or dried form, made by concentrating and stabilising the residual water (containing water‑soluble elements, viz. proteins, vitamins B, salts, etc.), and derived from the manufacture of fish or marine mammal meal or oil. (2) Whole green leaf protein concentrate and green fraction leaf protein concentrate, obtained from alfalfa (lucerne) juice by heat treatment. (C) PREPARATIONS FOR USE IN MAKING THE COMPLETE FEEDS OR SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDS DESCRIBED IN (A) AND (B) ABOVE These preparations, known in trade as "premixes", are, generally speaking, compound compositions consisting of a number of substances (sometimes called additives) the nature and proportions of which vary according to the animal production required. These substances are of three types : (1) Those which improve digestion and, more generally, ensure that the animal makes good use of the feeds and safeguard its health : vitamins or provitamins, amino‑acids, antibiotics, coccidiostats, trace elements, emulsifiers, flavourings and appetisers, etc. (2) Those designed to preserve the feeding stuffs (particularly the fatty components) until consumption by the animal : stabilisers, anti‑oxidants, etc. (3) Those which serve as carriers and which may consist either of one or more organic nutritive substances (manioc or soya flour or meal, middlings, yeast, various residues of the food industries, etc.) or of inorganic substances (e.g., magnesite, chalk, kaolin, salt, phosphates). The concentration of the substances described in (1) above and the nature of the carrier are determined so as to ensure, in particular, homogeneous dispersion and mixing of these substances in the compound feeds to which the preparations are added. Providedthey are of a kind used in animal feeding, this group also includes : (a) Preparations consisting of several mineral substances. (b) Preparations consisting of an active substance of the type described in (1) above with a carrier, for example products of the antibiotics manufacturing process obtained by simply drying the mass, i.e. the entire contents of the fermentation vessel (essentially mycelium, the culture medium and the antibiotic). The resulting dry substance, whether or not standardised by adding organic or inorganic substances, has an antibiotic content ranging generally between 8 % and 16 % and is used as basic material in preparing, in particular, "premixes". The preparations of this group should not, however, be confused with certain preparations for veterinary uses. The latter are generally identifiable by the medicinal nature and much higher concentration of the active substance, and are often put up in a different way. The heading further includes : (1) Preparations for cats, dogs, etc., consisting of a mixture of meat, meat offal and other ingredients, put up in airtight containers and containing approximately the quantity required for one feed. (2) Biscuits for dogs or other animals, usually made with flour, starch or cereal products mixed with greaves or meat meal. (3) Sweet preparations, whether or not containing cocoa, designed solely for consumption by dogs or other animals. (4) Feeding preparations for birds (e.g., a preparation consisting of millet, canary seeds, shelled oats and linseed, used as a main or complete food for budgerigars) or fish. The animal feeding preparations of this heading are often put up in the form of pellets (see the General Explanatory Note to this Chapter). The heading excludes : (a) Pellets made from a single material, or from a mixture of several materials which is classified as such in one specific heading, even with an added binder (molasses, starchy substances, etc.) in a proportion not exceeding 3 % by weight (headings 07.14, 12.14, 23.01, etc.). (b) Simple mixtures of cereal grains (Chapter 10), of cereal flours or of flours of leguminous vegetables (Chapter 11). (c) Preparations which, when account is taken, in particular, of the nature, purity and proportions of the ingredients, the hygiene requirements complied with during manufacture and, when appropriate, the indications given on the packaging or any other information concerning their use, can be used either for feeding animals or for human consumption (headings 19.01 and 21.06, in particular). (d) Vegetable waste, residues and by‑products of heading 23.08. (e) Vitamins, whether or not chemically defined or intermixed, whether or not put up in any solvent or stabilisedby the addition of antioxidants or anticaking agents, by adsorption on a substrate or by applying a protective coating of, for example, gelatin, waxes, fats, etc., provided that the quantity of such additives, substrate or coating does not exceed that required for preservation or transport and provided that such additives, substrates or coating do not alter the character of the vitamins and do not render them particularly suitable for specific use rather than for general use (heading 29.36). (f) Other products of Chapter 29. (g) Medicaments of heading 30.03 or 30.04. (h) Protein substances of Chapter 35. (ij) Preparations in the nature of antimicrobial disinfectants used in the manufacture of animal feeds to control undesirable micro-organisms (heading 38.08). (k) Intermediate products of the antibiotics manufacturing process obtained by filtering and first-stage extraction and the residues of this process, with an antibiotic content generally not exceeding 70 % (heading 38.24).
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