DAVID Whiteford, who has put a lot of his energies into the development of the Scottish Pig Industry Initiative - one of the pioneering farm assurance schemes - is bringing that experience to bear on the wider world of food production.
As business development director of Scottish Food Quality Certification he will be spending about two days a week away from his farm base, in Easter Ross, to spread the gospel of how consumer confidence can be boosted by trustworthy assurance schemes.
An independent body, SFQC ensures that assurance schemes live up to the claims they make.
It has been at the forefront of that process with the Scotch Quality Beef and Lamb farm assurance scheme, Scottish Quality Trout and Scottish Quality Cereals.
Already it is responsible for about 10,000 inspections a year, and with the extension of assurance to auction marts and feed companies, that figure will
continue to rise.
''Our aim is to build these schemes up to the point where they qualify for the European standard EN450 11. The Scottish pig industry was the first in Europe to gain that
recognition,'' said Whiteford.
Based at the rural centre at Ingliston, alongside the National Farmers' Union of Scotland and the Meat & Livestock Commission, SFQC has extended its remit south of the Border through a joint venture with Checkmate International, which helps run the Assured Produce Scheme and other verification procedures for the food industry.
The company has also won the contract for administering the English cereals assurance scheme.
Whiteford's role now is to bring in as much new business as possible for SFQC on a UK basis. He sees the introduction of beef labelling, which the multiple retailers are very keen on, as an obvious area for
expansion.
''We can police the system and verify it all the way through from farm to processor and on to the final outlet,'' he said.
As the assurance culture takes hold, he can also see scope in the fishing industry as trawler operators seek to promote the freshness and high quality of their produce.
Organic farming, too, he said, will see the need for its claims to be verified.
The grumbles of home producers that imported food may not be up to UK standards could be countered by an inspection programme which would extend overseas to make sure that importers' claims were justified, said Whiteford.
''After all, if the Food
Standards Agency puts conditions on us which others do not have to comply with we won't have an industry.''
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