The term

farm assurance 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 ...

was first used in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the late 1980s to describe new

certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

schemes established by farmers, meat processors, consumers and supporting agencies, in response to emerging consumer concerns about food production. These schemes introduced independent, on-farm auditing of

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

, environmental care and staff competence. Organisations involved included the

National Farmers Union of Scotland The National Farmers' Union of Scotland is an organisation that promotes and protects the interests of the country's farming industry. It was formed in 1913, and has approximately 10,000 members who are farmers, crofters and others involved in Sc ...

, Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, the

Scottish Consumer Council The New National Consumer Council, operating as Consumer Futures, was a non-departmental public body and statutory consumer organisation in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland. It was established by the Consumers ...

Scottish Enterprise Scottish Enterprise is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, enterprise, innovation and investment in business. The body covers the eastern and central parts of Scotland whilst similar ...

Highlands and Islands Development Board Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

, the

Meat and Livestock Commission The Meat and Livestock Commission, (MLC), was set up by the UK Government under the Agriculture Act 1967 with Government money with the remit to promote the sale of red meat. The MLC was previously an independent non-departmental public body, bu ...

and the

Scottish Agricultural College Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) is a public land based research institution focused on agriculture and life sciences. Its history stretches back to 1899 with the establishment of the West of Scotland Agricultural College and its current organis ...

. The first farm assurance scheme was the Scottish Pig Industry Initiative, established in 1990, followed by Farm Assured Scotch Lamb and Scottish Quality Cereals. Food produced through these schemes carry Scotch and Scottish branding (e.g. Scotch Beef). Other farming sectors in Scotland quickly followed. Scottish

farmed salmon The aquaculture of salmonids is the farming and harvesting of salmonids under controlled conditions for both commercial and recreational purposes. Salmonids (particularly salmon and rainbow trout), along with carp, and tilapia are the three most ...

producers established similar assurance schemes (Scottish Quality Salmon and Shetland Quality Salmon) during the same period, followed by farmed trout (Scottish Quality Trout). Farmers in England established their own (and sometimes UK-wide) farm assurance schemes in the second half of the 1990s, these eventually being encompassed within

Assured Food Standards Assured Food Standards is a United Kingdom company which licenses the Red Tractor quality mark, a product certification programme that comprises a number of farm assurance schemes for food products, animal feed and fertilizer. The scheme is subje ...

which operates the "Red Tractor" mark. The rest of Europe took up farm assurance in the late 1990s (e.g. EurepGAP) with many other parts of the world adopting farm assurance in the early 2000s (e.g. GLOBALG.A.P). The individuals who established farm assurance in Scotland included Maitland Mackie (SPII Chair), Jim Royan (FASL Chair), John Ross (NFUS President), John MacNaughton (SQBLA Chair), Alistair Donaldson (MLC Scotland Director), Brian Simpson (SQBLA Chief Executive), Ian Duncan Miller (livestock farmer), Alan Stevenson (SAMW), David Jack (cereal farmer), David Taylor (Scottish Enterprise), George Russell (Scottish Enterprise) and Peter Brown (HIDB then SPII & FASL Chief Executive).

Scottish Food Quality Certification

Scottish Food Quality Certification is an independent company which monitors Scottish farm produce. Founded in 1995 it was the world's first farm and food certification business accredited to

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

Guide 65. By the late 1990s SFQC certified approximately 15,000 farms (circa 90% of Scottish farm output).

Criticism

There has been discontent from farmers paying levies to various food assurance schemes about lacking influence over ongoing changes to standard criteria.

References

{{reflist Agriculture in Scotland

Food and drink in Scotland Retailing in Scotland 1980s establishments in Scotland

Scottish Food Quality Certification

Criticism

See also

References