Milk suppliers that fail to comply with an upcoming ban on calf slaughter under eight weeks of age will likely see their membership of the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS) suspended.
The scheme, which is operated by Bord Bia, is the quality assurance scheme for Irish dairy farms, and sets out standards for best practice in dairy farming.
The scheme standard is developed by a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), which met on Tuesday (March 28) to discuss the proposed criteria in relation to the prohibiton of the sale of calves for slaughter within the first eight weeks of life from SDAS-approved farms.
The members of the TAC include Bord Bia itself; Teagasc; the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI); the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; representatives of farmers and processors; and technical experts.
According to Bord Bia, there was extensive stakeholder agreement at the meeting in relation to the criteria, but also some suggestions to “strengthen and clarify” the wording of the requirement.
There appears to have been no final agreement on these suggestions, but it is understood that the calf slaughter ban is effectively a done deal at this point, with certain details remaining to be worked out.
Once full agreement is reached, the proposed changes will then be integrated into the SDAS standard and be approved by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB), which regulates accreditations and certifications on consumer products in Ireland.
However, suspension from the SDAS will not be first course of action where non-compliance is discovered.
In cases where an SDAS-approved milk supplier is found to be non-compliant with the new criteria, the producer will be required to put in place a calf breeding and management plan, which must be reviewed and signed-off by their milk purchaser.
In the event of subsequent non-compliance with the proposed criteria, membership of the SDAS may then be suspended.
Bord Bia said that it is in agreement with the wider industry that the practice of sending calves to slaughter under eight weeks of age should be phased out.
The proposed new rules have been developed from a ‘Calf Welfare Charter‘ developed by the Irish Co-Operative Organisation Society (ICOS).
It is understood that all dairy processing businesses – certainly those that are members of Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) – are on-board with the plans.
It is also understood that several processors are already effectively abiding by this charter, and have informed their suppliers of that fact.