The QS system in Germany — the feed module and its relevance for Polish exporters

What the QS system is

The QS system is a private, German industry initiative covering quality and safety assurance across the entire agri-food chain — a scope considerably broader than the feed sector alone. A single system brings together participants from many very different stages of the chain: farms engaged in crop growing and animal husbandry, producers and suppliers of feed and feed materials, slaughterhouses and meat processing plants, and — at the end of the chain — retail and food service operators. This design sets QS apart from standards focused solely on one link of the chain, such as GMP+ in the feed sector — QS was designed from the outset as a system covering the product "from field to plate", with the ability to trace its path through successive stages of processing and distribution.

In practice this means that a feed company participating in the QS system functions as one link in a much larger network, in which the other participants — farmers, slaughterhouses, processors, retail chains — are also subject to the system's requirements, appropriate to their own stage of the chain. From a feed producer's perspective this usually means contact primarily with one specific part of the system — the feed module — while an awareness of the wider context of the QS system helps explain why German customers attach more weight to it than the requirements placed on suppliers of raw materials and feed alone would suggest.

Origins of the QS system

The QS system was created as a response of the German agri-food industry to the crises of consumer confidence in food safety that affected the European market at the turn of the century. Repeated scandals concerning the quality and safety of food products led producers, processors and retail chains alike to look for a way to provide credible, documented confirmation that the entire supply chain — from raw material to the product on the shop shelf — was subject to consistent, verifiable quality control. The response was to create one shared system covering all the key stages of that chain, instead of leaving each link with its own, unconnected standards.

Since then the QS system has become firmly established on the German market — for many retail chains, meat plants and large processors, supplier participation in the QS system has become a standard condition of cooperation rather than an additional advantage. This entrenchment means that for companies wishing to build lasting relationships with German trading partners, familiarity with the QS system and its requirements can be just as important as familiarity with the EU feed law itself.

The QS feed module

The part of the QS system that directly concerns feed producers and suppliers is the feed module, covering companies engaged in manufacturing, processing, trading and intermediating in the sale of feed and feed materials. The subject-matter scope of this module is close to the requirements known from GMP+ — it covers control of the quality of incoming raw materials, documented HACCP analysis, traceability of the product at every stage of trade, and elements of a quality management system ensuring the repeatability and oversight of processes. For a company that has previously implemented GMP+, many of these elements are already familiar and partly documented, which genuinely makes it easier to extend the business to include participation in the QS feed module.

An important difference, however, is that the QS feed module does not function as a stand-alone, separate standard, but as an element of the larger QS system structure, which covers further stages of the chain. This means that participation in the feed module involves not only meeting the substantive requirements appropriate to feed production or trade, but also operating within the organisational framework proper to the whole QS system — including the role of integrators, which we discuss further in this article.

Who in Poland actually needs this standard

The QS system is of practical relevance primarily to Polish producers and exporters of feed and feed materials who sell their products to German customers — animal producers (for example large poultry, pig or cattle farms), compound feed plants supplying the German market, and processors and intermediaries operating within German supply chains covered by the QS system. In many cases it is the customer — rather than a general wish to expand a portfolio of certificates — that determines whether participation in the QS system is actually needed for a given company.

In practice this means that before a company invests time and resources in joining the QS system, it is worth first checking whether specific, current or planned German business partners genuinely require it, and to what extent. Some German customers accept other recognised feed safety standards, including GMP+, as sufficient confirmation of a supplier's quality — for others, participation in the QS system is a necessary condition for establishing or continuing cooperation. This position can also change over time — a customer who accepts GMP+ today may in future start expecting QS participation as well, particularly if it is itself under pressure from its own further links in the chain (for example, large retail chains).

QS versus GMP+ — similarities and differences

Both standards concern feed safety and share many elements in substance: they require documented HACCP analysis, control of the quality of incoming raw materials, traceability of the product through successive stages of trade, and elements of a quality management system ensuring the repeatability of processes. For a company familiar with the requirements of the GMP+ system, many of the topics that appear in the QS feed module will not be entirely new — the differences relate more to organisational structure and market context than to the underlying philosophy of feed safety management.

The key difference lies in the scope and origin of the two systems. GMP+ is an international standard focused exclusively on the feed chain — production, trade, transport and storage of feed — used by companies in many countries in Europe and beyond, regardless of which market the animal product ultimately manufactured using that feed reaches. QS, on the other hand, is part of a much broader system covering the entire agri-food chain, strongly oriented towards the German retail market — its feed module operates within a structure designed with the ability to trace the product all the way to a shop or restaurant in Germany. This difference in the scope and purpose of the system translates directly into how a company joins it — more on that in the next part of this article.

In practice the two standards do not exclude one another, and often complement each other. A company that has already implemented and documented the requirements of the GMP+ standard usually has a solid foundation for a quality management system, which can be extended with the elements specific to the QS feed module, instead of building documentation from scratch. This does not, however, mean that a GMP+ certificate is automatically recognised as equivalent to QS participation — the two systems remain organisationally distinct, and the decision on whether a given customer accepts GMP+ or additionally requires QS is always made by the customer itself, not by the certification system.

The structure of the QS system — the role of integrators

One of the features that most clearly sets the QS system apart from standards such as GMP+ is the role of system integrators — entities that manage the participation of multiple companies at a given link of the supply chain. Instead of a direct relationship between an individual company and a certification body, typical of GMP+ certification, participation in the QS system usually takes place through an integrator, who coordinates applications, registration and, in part, oversight of a group of participants operating at a similar stage of the chain or within a shared commercial structure.

This design has practical consequences. A company interested in participating in the QS feed module usually does not contact the central organisation managing the system directly, but rather the relevant integrator — which may, for example, be an industry organisation, a large customer, or a specialised entity coordinating supplier participation in a given region or sector. In practice, the integrator guides the company through the registration process, indicates the required documentation and mediates in arranging the audit. For companies accustomed to the model known from GMP+ — where certification is a two-party relationship between the company and the certification body — this additional organisational layer can initially feel unintuitive and calls for a somewhat different approach to planning the whole process.

Choosing the right integrator — matched to the company's business profile and the structure of its commercial relationships with German customers — is usually the first practical step towards participation in the QS system, and it comes before starting substantive preparation for the audit. An incorrect choice of integrator, mismatched to the actual profile of the company's commercial cooperation, can later result in the need to repeat part of the formalities.

Requirements of the QS feed module

The substantive scope of the QS feed module's requirements covers elements well known to companies implementing feed safety systems: documented control of the quality of incoming raw materials, including supplier verification and testing of selected quality parameters and contaminants; a hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) study adapted to the specifics of the business; a traceability system allowing a batch of product to be clearly linked to specific raw materials and stages of the process; and monitoring of contaminants relevant from a feed safety point of view, carried out in a systematic and documented manner.

This substantive scope largely overlaps with the requirements of the GMP+ standard, which is a practical benefit for companies already certified to GMP+ — a significant part of the quality management system documentation, the HACCP analysis or the traceability procedures can be reused or merely adapted, instead of created from scratch. This does not, however, mean one-hundred-percent automatic compliance — every system has its own, detailed formal requirements regarding, for example, how documentation is kept or the scope of reporting, which are worth verifying individually before starting the QS audit, ideally with the involvement of the relevant system integrator, who is familiar with the current, detailed guidelines of the feed module.

Companies planning to participate in the QS feed module should also pay attention to the requirements concerning documentation of the origin of raw materials — especially in the case of feed materials imported from countries outside the European Union or sourced from many different origins. Because of its emphasis on full traceability across the entire agri-food chain, the QS system usually expects detailed documentation allowing a raw material's path to be traced back to its original source, which can be more demanding than the corresponding requirements in other feed safety standards.

The process of joining the QS system

The general course of joining the QS system differs procedurally from direct GMP+ certification, so it is worth planning it with adequate lead time. The starting point is usually identifying the right system integrator — one suited to the company's business profile and its commercial relationships with German customers — and registering through it. The integrator indicates the required scope of documentation and coordinates the further steps, including arranging an audit of compliance with the requirements of the QS feed module.

The QS audit itself, like a GMP+ audit, in practice verifies the functioning of the quality management system, HACCP analysis, traceability and control of raw materials — with the difference that its outcome and the further procedure are linked to the integrator's structure, not solely to the company's relationship with a certification body. After a positive audit result, the company is formally entered into the QS system as a feed-module participant, which is usually visible to its German trading partners through the corresponding entry in the QS system.

Companies that already have an implemented and maintained GMP+ system can, in practice, significantly shorten the time needed for substantive preparation — much of the required documentation already exists and merely needs adapting to the format and detailed guidelines of the QS feed module, instead of being built from the ground up. This does not, however, change the procedural path itself relating to registration through an integrator, which remains separate from the GMP+ certification process and requires separate planning, irrespective of how mature the company's internal quality management system already is.

Benefits of QS participation for Polish exporters

The most direct benefit of participating in the QS system is access to German customers for whom presence in the system is a condition for establishing or continuing commercial cooperation. Given how firmly the QS system has become established in the German agri-food chain — particularly in the meat segment and in relationships with large retail chains — participation in the feed module can open the door to a group of business partners who would otherwise remain out of reach for the company's offer, regardless of the quality of the product itself.

Participation in QS also brings indirect benefits arising from the preparation process itself — putting documentation on the origin and traceability of raw materials in order, strengthening quality-control procedures, and better preparing the company for the questions of other, equally demanding customers from other European markets. For companies that treat the German market as a strategically important export direction, familiarity with and participation in the QS system can also be an element that builds long-term trust with trading partners, extending beyond any single transaction or contract.

Costs and time associated with QS participation

The costs of participating in the QS system depend on several factors worth taking into account at the planning stage: fees charged by the chosen system integrator, the cost of the audit itself carried out by an authorised body, and the amount of the company's own work needed to prepare or adapt documentation. Companies that already have GMP+ in place usually incur lower substantive preparation costs, because a large part of the required documentation already exists — this does not, however, change the fact that fees relating to the integrator structure itself are a separate cost element, one that does not occur in this form under GMP+ certification. Rather than quoting specific figures, which depend heavily on the chosen integrator, the scale of the business and the certification scope, it is worth asking the relevant integrator or the certification body carrying out the audit for a current price list in each case.

The time needed to complete the process of joining the QS system depends above all on the company's starting point. Companies with a mature, well-documented quality management system — particularly those already certified to GMP+ — can move through registration, documentation adaptation and the audit relatively efficiently. Companies starting to build a quality system from scratch should allow correspondingly more time to develop a HACCP analysis, traceability procedures and internal raw-material control rules before they are ready for an audit — regardless of whether that audit concerns the QS system or any other feed safety standard.

The role of Quality Assurance Poland in implementing the QS feed module

As an advisory firm specialising in feed certification, we support clients considering participation in the QS feed module at several stages of this process. We usually start with an analysis of whether the standard is actually needed — that is, whether the company's specific, current or target German customers genuinely require QS participation, or whether holding a GMP+ certificate or another recognised feed safety standard is sufficient. This initial analysis helps avoid unnecessary costs and effort in situations where commercial expectations can be met by a simpler route.

If participation in the QS system does turn out to be genuinely necessary, we help adapt the quality management system documentation, HACCP analysis and traceability procedures to the detailed requirements of the feed module, support contact with the relevant system integrator, and prepare the company for the audit itself — paying attention to the areas that, in our experience, most often raise questions from auditors or integrators. For companies that already have GMP+ in place, we help make efficient use of existing documentation instead of building the system from scratch — which usually significantly shortens the time needed to prepare for QS participation.

Deciding to join the QS system — what to pay attention to

Companies considering entering the QS system most often wonder whether the standard is genuinely essential for them, how to plan the budget and schedule, and whether it is better to start with GMP+ or to apply for both standards in parallel from the outset. The answer to these questions depends above all on the structure of the company's customers — if current or planned German clients clearly require QS participation, it is worth planning the process with adequate lead time, taking into account both the choice of integrator and the time needed for substantive preparation.

It is also worth remembering that the decision to join the QS system is rarely a one-off and unchangeable step — as cooperation with the German market develops, the scope of requirements set by subsequent customers may change, and a company once registered in the QS system gains flexibility in establishing further business relationships without having to repeat the whole process from scratch for every new contract. For this reason, the decision to join QS is worth treating not only as a response to a specific customer's current requirement, but also as an element of the company's broader strategy for its presence on the German market.

Glossary

QS system

A German, private quality and safety assurance system covering the entire agri-food chain — from farming, through feed, slaughter and processing, to retail and food service.

QS system integrator

An entity coordinating the participation of multiple companies at a given link of the supply chain within the QS system, acting as an intermediary between participants and the structure managing the system.

QS feed module

The part of the QS system concerning producers, processors and intermediaries in the trade of feed and feed materials, covering requirements similar in substance to the GMP+ standard.

Agri-food chain

The full sequence of stages from the production of agricultural raw materials, through feed, animal husbandry, slaughter and processing, to the distribution and sale of food products to the end consumer.

QS audit

An independent assessment of a system participant's compliance with the requirements of a given QS module, carried out within a structure overseen by the system integrator.

German market (as a commercial requirement)

The context in which participation in the QS system is expected or required by German customers of feed and feed materials as a condition for establishing or continuing cooperation.