Pressure from growers involved in the Rolling Back Farm Assurance Schemes campaign has yielded results, as they seek to significantly reduce restraints and red tape on producers.
The campaign, led by the British Independent Fruit Growers' Association (BIFGA), has particularly targeted the Assured Produce (AP) scheme which, they feel, asks too much of growers in the form of extra paperwork and audits on top of the various certifications required by the major retailers.
AP is a subsidiary of Assured Food Standards (AFS), which operates the Red Tractor logo and is jointly owned by several food and farming bodies, including the National Farmers’ Union.
Mark Tatchell, chairman of the AFS Assured Produce Scheme, said in a letter to BIFGA: “I have now had the necessary discussions and negotiations with the authorities so the duplication of auditing of points relating to harvesting rigs and packhouses found both within the Assured Produce Standards and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standard for Food Safety can be eliminated with effect from April 2010.
“There remains a little bit of work for the Assured Produce Scheme to do to finalise the wording and guidance given, but this will remove a significant number of audit points for those producers who also have the relevant BRC audit.”
But Tatchell acknowledged this may represent just the first step. He said: “I appreciate this is not the end of what you have called ‘Rolling Back Farm Assurance Schemes’, but I am sure you will agree it is a positive step forward.”
BIFGA chairman John Breach said: “Maybe now, after such a huge downward pressure on returns, more growers will be taking a long hard look at all their costs, including considering whether they can any longer afford these ‘voluntary’ assurance schemes in their present form.
“Many growers have said that these schemes have now gone way, way beyond what was first envisaged, and that they would like to quit but are scared that if they do, they will be unable to sell through major retailers.”
Breach added that the schemes were far from the “partnerships” first promised and raised questions over the “sterile” conditions packhouses were required to produce, despite customers being able to handle the carefully packed produce in store before putting it back.
Breach encouraged members to take an active interest in the new Groceries Supermarket Code of Practice, set to be implemented on February 4, 2010 while the proposed accompanying ombudsman is still being deliberated on in government.
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