Under new proposals, cattle could only achieve farm assured status if they have spent all their lives on assured farms. Under the current rules animals achieve the same status after 90 days on a Red Tractor assured farm.
The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has rejected the plans on the grounds that it would add to bureaucracy and increase costs along the whole supply chain.
Necessary changes
But Clarke told FoodManufacture.co.uk the changes were necessary to support an assured accreditation system and bring standards for cattle in line with those for other livestock.
“They are overstating how much it will cost,” he said. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time. [The standard for cattle] is slightly out of step with how we assure quality in the other sectors and we feel it is about time that it came into line.”
It was currently compulsory that other livestock – poultry and pig – accredited by the scheme were on Red Tractor assured farms from birth, Clarke said.
Retailers have indicated they would prefer the industry to move to a system of ‘whole life’ assurance for beef, he added.
AFS consumer research indicated that consumers would feel misled if assurance wasn’t whole life and this could therefore devalue the assurance scheme, it claimed.
The British Retail Consortium supported the change, it added.
The FUW claimed the proposals came at the “worst possible time” for the industry as restrictions had already been introduced this year as part of the new Common Agricultural Policy rules.
‘Inappropriate burden’
“The appetite for dictating more and more management practices on farm is inappropriate and an unnecessary burden on the industry,” said FUW livestock wool and marts committee chairman Dafydd Roberts.
“Hybu Cig Cymru (Meat Promotion Wales, HCC) cost of production figures highlight that even the top third of beef producers are struggling to cover their costs. Lifetime assurance would add to these costs without any guarantee of improved returns from the marketplace.”
Welsh beef farmers also had to adhere to strict animal health and welfare and traceability rules which were not present in other countries, Roberts claimed.
“Wales already has a worldwide reputation for producing high quality, grass-fed beef, acknowledged by the PGI [Protected Geographical Indication] branding that accompanies Welsh beef into homes across the UK and beyond,” he said.
The union has consistently rejected proposals for lifetime assurance, including in its 2014 consultation response to Welsh Lamb and Beef Producers, the main body responsible for farm assurance in Wales.