Bord Bia plans 'new approach' for farm audits and QA standard update
Bord Bia has confirmed plans are in place to update its Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) for beef and sheep farmers.
The food board is also planning to take a "new approach to farm audits".
Speaking to Agriland at the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation's (ICBF's) Tully Open Day at the Tully Progeny Test Centre in Co. Kildare, Bord Bia senior manager for agri-sustainability Mick Houlihan explained how the proposed changes came about.
He said that Bord Bia has been "reviewing the [SBLAS] standard" and also had the technical advisory committee with all the relevant stakeholders involved in the review process.
In looking at reviewing the standard and the audit process, Houlihan said: "We've been trying to take into account changes in market requirements, customer requirements, legislation, and trying to ensure that we put our best foot forward with a new standard that incorporates as much of these changes and continues to keep our standard relevant in the most important markets for us."
Implementation
Houlihan explained the process in getting the changes implemented saying: "We have to go through the the process of of getting all this finalised through the technical advisory committee.
"We're hoping that we will get that wrapped up by the end of this year.
"After that, there's a whole process we need to go through to get the scheme accredited through the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB).
"We have training that we need to do. We have information and communication campaigns that we need to run for the members.
"We will have to train auditors so there's a lot of work between getting the standard finalised and actually rolling it out but we'd be hoping that maybe come this time next year, we'll be in a position to start auditing this new standard," he said.
New approach to farm audits
Houlihan also confirmed that a new approach to farm audits is something that Bord Bia is looking at.
He said: "It'll form part of discussion with the TAC, but also with INAB when we go through the accreditation process.
"There's a big focus on trying to kind of streamline things, trying to ensure that the experience is a better experience for the members moving forward, and trying to kind of just work a little bit smarter and find ways achieving that.
"We do see an opportunity in terms of shifting to a risk-based approach, which means that we don't need to look at absolutely everything on every-single visit.
"We feel that that's a big opportunity to achieve some of that streamlining that we want to see."
