Farm assurance explained

Farm assurance is product certification for agricultural products that emphasises the principles of quality assurance. The emphasis on quality assurance means that, in addition to product inspection, farm assurance schemes may include standards and certification for traceability, production methods, transport, and supplies.[1]

All farm assurance schemes claim to ensure high standards of animal welfare, although there is great variation in the requirements that relate to how animals should be kept and cared for.[2]

In our United Kingdom and Australia, the major farm assurance programmes are based on a quality management system for food safety that originated with the US space agency NASA, known as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).[3] [4] In these and other countries, assurance is underpinned by principles and standards for good manufacturing practice (GMP), good agricultural practice (GAP), good hygienic practice and good trade practice.[5]

Examples of farm assurance schemes include:

In 2004, 65% of United Kingdom farm production was farm assured, and by 2006, £6 billion worth of food was packed annually under the United Kingdom's Red Tractor farm assurance mark, including over 90% of the country's pig and dairy production.[9]

Some farm assurance schemes are given legal force, either by use of trademarks or by oversight by government regulators of agriculture and food standards.While mostly associated with food production, farm assurance can be applied to other agricultural products, such as textiles, flowers, tobacco and biofuels.

In order to obtain farm product certification, assurance may be required for farm supplies.For example, the UK's Red Tractor scheme is supported by assurance programmes for fodder (UFAS, FEMAS) and fertiliser (FIAS).[10] [11]

Other quality standards

Other widely used agricultural quality standards are based entirely on product inspection, and do not rely on other aspects of quality assurance.One example of such a programme is the United States Quality Standards for grading, certification and verification: the USDA beef grades depend on physical attributes of the meat, plus the age of the animal.[12]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Farm Assurance factsheet . . 7 December 2004 . UK . 22 July 2008 . Over 78,000 farmers and growers in the UK are farm assured, accounting for between 65% and 90% of output in the main commodity sectors...Farm assurance is now one link in a chain of assurance, which covers areas such as agricultural inputs (e.g. feed); transport and processing. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070824202430/http://www.igd.com/CIR.asp?menuid=115&cirid=1354 . 24 August 2007.
  2. Web site: Farm Assurance Schemes & Animal Welfare: How the standards compare. 2012. Executive Summary . Compassion in World Farming . 2012 . 25 September 2014.
  3. Web site: Industry information: Food safety and regulation: Dairy Food safety . . 25 September 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170714050311/http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/Industry-information/Food-safety-and-regulation/Dairy-food-safety.aspx . 14 July 2017 . dead .
  4. Web site: THE CERTIFICATION STANDARD. Annex 4 sets out the seven principles of HACCP. 22 July 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20111004150913/http://www.redtractor.org.uk/download/rt_standards_pigs.pdf. 4 October 2011. dead.
  5. Web site: ANALYSIS OF THE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION LEVEL IN DIFFERENT QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN THE AGRI-FOOD SECTOR. Krieger. Stephanie. Gerhard. Schiefer. University of Bonn, Germany. EFITA 2003 Conference, 5–9. July 2003, Debrecen, Hungary. 619. 22 July 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20050908120746/http://www.date.hu/efita2003/centre/pdf/1108.pdf. 8 September 2005. dead. . "The basis for any quality system is good practice, especially good manufacturing practice, good agricultural practice, good hygienic practice and good trade practice".
  6. Web site: Read about AFS. Red Tractor Assured Food Standards. 16 July 2008. 18 November 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071118123512/http://www.redtractor.org.uk/site/rt_page.php?section_id=2&page_id=48. dead.
  7. News: RSPCA via Politics.co.uk . 14 July 2008 . Press release: RSPCA: Freedom food – record numbers are looking for the logo . 16 July 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081014085528/http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-formers/press-releases/rspca-freedom-food-record-numbers-are-looking-the-logo-$1231630$366366.htm . 14 October 2008 .
  8. Web site: Grainsafe. Purdue University. Indiana. 22 July 2008.
  9. Web site: SFFS Indicators – 1.07 Farm assurance schemes (data sheet) . . 16 July 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070609200009/http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/indicators/d107_data.htm . 9 June 2007 .
  10. Web site: Trade assurance. Agricultural Industries Confederation. 16 July 2008.
  11. Web site: The Assurance of Animal Feedingstuffs – A Brief Outline. 16 July 2008. Product Authentication International, a certifying body. https://web.archive.org/web/20090815002405/http://www.thepaigroup.com/default.aspx?P=AnimalFeed. 15 August 2009. dead.
  12. Web site: Grading, certification and verification: USDA Quality Standards. For example, Beef quality standards are based on attributes such as marbling (the amount of fat interspersed with lean meat), color, firmness, texture, and age of the animal, for each grade. 22 July 2008. USDA.

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