The Cobb pedigree breeding complex at Herveld in the Netherlands was awarded compartment status by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Authority (NVWA) this month. This location is now added to the company’s growing list of global facilities that have achieved compartment status allowing international trade to continue without interruption following an outbreak of avian influenza (AI).
The Herveld facility is the European hub for Cobb research and development and one of the company’s seven pedigree breeding centers. In recent years, a major €15 ($19) million investment more than doubled the capacity of the complex to expand the scope and speed of development of the Cobb500.
Neeltje van Horen, senior supervisor of facilities, Cobb Europe BV, said: “We began working on the project to achieve compartment status in 2016. Every aspect of the facilities and our procedures were subjected to comprehensive auditing by the NVWA.”
“For a facility such as ours to achieve and maintain compartment status, our levels of biosecurity, operating procedures, separation and surveillance must be at the very highest standard. It was crucial we demonstrated that the complete farm facility is effectively separated from the rest of the country’s poultry industry, and that all potential risks are assessed and managed through necessary control measures.”
In 2004, The World Organisation for Animal Health introduced the concept of compartmentalization to recognize businesses operating at such high standards of biosecurity that they can ensure all their facilities remain disease-free even in the event of a notifiable disease in the country.
Mijndert Heineke, Cobb senior pedigree manager at Herveld since 2015, said: “We are extremely proud of all the work and joint efforts of our whole team at Herveld that helped us achieve this outstanding recognition. Through continued investment in education and training all their hard work has been rewarded.”