Momentum builds for global farm assurance

Global farm assurance standards for meat and cereals will be published this month in an attempt to harmonise national schemes.

Set by the worldwide retailer, processor and producer group EurepGAP, which runs its own assurance scheme, the standards are likely to be welcomed by UK buyers of imported ingredients but might well be resisted by other processors and retailers. The British Retail Consortium, for example, said that its standard was already global.

Paul Ruocco, marketing and international operations director of the certification firm Efsis, said that existing EurepGAP standards on fruit and vegetables were popular with UK buyers purchasing imported produce. He believed many buyers would adopt the new global standards but that few would buy from EurepGAP-accredited producers in the UK. "There's a desire to maintain national identity," he said.

EurepGAP hoped that national standards would be benchmarked against the new global standards.

Chairman Nigel Garbutt said the standards would make comparisons between national standards easier and give consumers more confidence. Eventually, an international standard would prevail, he thought.

David Clarke, chief executive of certification company Assured Food Standards, pointed out that whereas UK standards applied throughout the food chain, EurepGAP's only related to farms. "There will need to be amendments," he said.

• The British Pig Executive (BPEX) has launched a new quality mark for pork that shows the meat has been produced to UK welfare standards.

BPEX is putting £1m behind the mark, which can be used on pork, bacon, ham and sausages and also on ready meals and other products made in the UK or abroad, provided that the welfare standards are met.

According to BPEX, two thirds of imported pork does not meet minimum UK standards and would be illegal to produce in this country. It said that 50% of pork, bacon and ham sold by supermarkets is from abroad.