Farmers urged to give views on quality assurance scheme as part of UK-wide review

Scottish farmers are being urged to give their views on an assurance scheme which guarantees the quality of their products to consumers.

It’s part of a UK wide review which gives meat, dairy and crops a stamp of certification, proving they can be traced back to the farm.

The review is being conducted between the National Farmers Union and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

Andrew Connon is the vice president from NFU Scotland.

He said: “Farm assurances ensure a high quality of production, a high quality of welfare standards, and environmental standards.

“It’s about farm to fork traceability.”

Assurance standards were introduced in Scotland in the early 1990s.

Products with the certifications include Scotch Beef, Specially Selected Pork and Red Tractor standards.

To carry the label, they must go through a comprehensive process at each step of its production, to make sure a high standard is met.

A review into how the scheme is delivered has been launched to see if the current system is fit for purpose and to highlight improvements that could be made.

Russell Rennie is a livestock and arable farmer in Aberdeenshire and wants to see the process become more streamlined.

“Duplication is a major issue for us, from one scheme to another,” he said.

“We can have a supermarket one day then a maltster on the next asking for the same information, which creates a horrendous amount of stress.”

Scheme which offers 'farm to fork traceability' is being reviewed to ensure it is fit for purpose — Scheme which offers ‘farm to fork traceability’ is being reviewed to ensure it is fit for purpose STV News

The National Farmers Union for Scotland says it’s a good time for the review.

It’s previously warned about the impact of poor quality imports on their markets.

Andrew added: “There’s huge concerns about animal and crop disease, and because we in the UK have very high standards or production, we want to maintain that.

“As farmers we can’t be seen to be undermined by imports coming in which have no credible assurance behind them.”

Farmers are being asked to submit their views by the end of the month.

Russell added: “This review needs to be done, to give farmers the assurance that things are being looked at.

“But also to give the public assurance that we are doing the best we can, we have a high welfare standard, higher than any other country and we need people to know that.”